Moments
by thassalian
Summary: "She's my best friend, Marshall. We're openly weird around each other." "You keep calling her a friend and she'll stay that way, Steve. And I get the feeling you wouldn't like that." They say that boy and girl best friends will feel something for each other at least sometime in their friendship. These two are no exception. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Mutual Loneliness

"So, train with me later?" she asked him. The Brit had been depressed the whole day, and Leo Kliesen, being his best friend and all, decided to help him out of the rut he'd been stuck in. That was the main reason she found herself training a shirtless Steve Fox in the little gym he'd started his boxing career in. Steve had sent his regular coach home, saying that though Leo was a girl, she could take a hit. Halfway through, she had exchanged her regular buckled shirt for a black tank top, since that summer night was still burning hot even though the air conditioning was cranked all the way up. Steve was only landing one out of every three punches he threw at her, an obvious sign that something was wrong. It wasn't often that he missed his mark when punching. Unless he meant to miss, which Leo doubted.

After he landed an unusually weak and tired punch to her shoulder, the German spelunker decided to call it a day. Steve didn't sit down on the bench, he fell onto it, his blue eyes staring fixedly on the ceiling. Leo handed him the bottle. He took it but didn't drink any of the contents.

"Do you plan on telling me what's wrong?"

"It's nothing Leo, really." She leaned her chin on her fist, still looking at him. He raised his eyebrows at her in question. "Seriously, Steve."

"It's nothing, I swear."

"Look, don't bother lying to me. It's obvious that there's something wrong with you, Steven Fox." He stared at her wearily, then sighed.

"Fine. Want to know what's wrong?" Leo nodded. "I. Am..." Steve looked at the ground. "...lonely..."

"Is it about Christie?" Leo asked. Steve and Christie had split around two months ago after almost a year of dating, something Leo secretly celebrated even as she patted Steve's back at the bar during several nights of being dragged with him there only to drive him home before he had one drink too many. She didn't like Christie, not because she was jealous or anything, nein, nothing like that. She just thought Christie was a bit too, well, high maintenance, to put it nicely.

"No, that's not it." Steve said quickly. "I'm just seriously lonely."

"Want to know what I do when I'm lonely?" she asked.

"What?"

"Sleep." That made Steve crack a smile, the first smile he'd made that day, and Leo caught herself smiling as well. _It's better when he smiles, _she thought absently as he gulped down some of the water. "I didn't know you ever felt lonely, Leo." he said.

"Well I do, I just don't show it. Leo replied as she leaned back against the bench. Steve took another drink and stole a glance at the blonde sitting next to him. Christie had always called Leo, "He, oh sorry, SHE...", somewhat sarcastically before; he had always been correcting her. True, Leo had just as many curves as a ruler, her hair was shorter than almost half of male population's hair, and she may have tackled Miguel Rojo a little while back, but Steve could confidently say that Leo was, is, and always will be, a girl.

Especially right now, seeing her in that tank top.

"What?" She'd caught him staring. "Lonely." said Steve. "I'm lonely, you're lonely. That must be why you and I get along so well, Kliesen."

"Loneliness?"

"Not just loneliness, MUTUAL loneliness. We're lonely together; that's why."

"Steve, that doesn't make any sense."

"There's another reason. You can stand my senseless-ness." he shot back, beaming.

"God, you're a crazy Brit."

"God, you're a crazy German." Their laughter filled the gym. Steve Fox was feeling better by the minute. "Wait," he asked. "Are you lonely right now?"

"Between you and your senseless-ness, there isn't any reason for me to be lonely." Leo laughed. A faint beeping echoed from one of the bags and Leo went to check on it. "Damn, I have to go." she groaned, staring at the little screen. She reached for her shirt when Steve stopped her. "You're in a hurry right? Buckling that shirt will take forever; just wear your jacket what you have right now." He had a point, so she stuffed the shirt in the bag and pulled on the jacket.

"I'll drive you home." said Steve while pulling on a shirt.

"I live a third of the city away from you, Steve." she said incredulously.

"It's late and it'll be hard to grab a taxi. Besides, I owe you." She cocked her head to one side and looked him over. "For what?"

"For being lonely with me." Leo flashed her smile again. Whenever he saw that smile, Steve was absolutely positive that Leo was a girl, screw what everyone else thought.

"Fine. Take me home, you crazy Brit."

"Sure, you crazy German."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi. *waves* So to celebrate the end of the week and signing up for , I made this little, um... Well, I just made this to celebrate. Yes, I've always thought of Leo as girl ever since I first saw her in an issue of K-Zone. I hadn't even read the character description and I just knew. No male character could have rocked her pose in that pic, at least, no male character I know. XD

Who is Steve? Steve is niiiice. That British accent.

*phone alarm starts blaring* Uh oh, I'm running late and low on sleep, and I've got a lot to do later today. Read if you like, review if you want to. Flames will be ignored. Ja ne~


	2. Strudel vs Noodles

Second chapter, since I can't concentrate on World History. XD  
~~~

"OW!"

"GET YOUR TOE OUT OF MY EYE!"

"I CAN'T IF YOU'RE HOLDING ME DOWN LIKE THAT!" It wasn't often that Leo wrestled around with Xiaoyu in the dojo, but every time was different. Always random, but always different. Sometimes people would wonder what made them friends in the first place. Some would even ask why outright. It didn't matter though, because the answer was always the same, regardless of which one of them said it:

"I like her."

Such are the bonds of friendship.

"Match over?" asked Leo, arms shaking from holding Xiaoyu down. The Chinese girl's pigtails were coming undone from the last fifteen minutes of wrestling. "Yeah. Game, set, match." They let each other go; Xiao got her toe out of Leo's eye and Leo handed her one of her hairties.

"You got better." remarked Xiao as she fixed her pigtais. "We only lasted ten minutes last time right?"

"Yeah, ten minutes." Leo breathed. She cracked some bones in her neck, then got up to crack the bones in her spine; kind of like the way a regular person would crack their knuckles, only Leo wasn't exactly normal. Xiao stretched and lay down flat on her back on the floor. "Hey, I noticed something." she said, looking over at Leo.

"What?"

"You're not wearing your usual outfit." Xiao was right; Leo's outfit today wasn't the usual. Leo had the habit of wearing Addidas Body Armor and white shorts whenever she wrestled with Xiaoyu. Today she kept the white shorts but swapped the Body Armor for a black tank top. "The Body Armor was getting loose." Leo concluded lamely.

"Alright, bitch," said Xiao after rolling over on her stomach. "What's up?" Didn't think you'd hear words like that coming from sweet little Ling Xiaoyu did you? She must've done something right if she managed to gain a fraction of Heihachi Mishima's respect. Mishima Zaibatsu still has the footage of her fighting off Heihachi's guards onboard his yacht. The Chinese security guard watching the cameras at the time was struck dumb by her language. Rumors say that anyone who watches that tape will go insane for a week after watching it. That's how extensive her vocabulary is.

"Not much, Xiao."

"Steve?"

"No." Xiao raised an eyebrow. "A little about Steve, yeah." Leo conceded.

"What, did he get back with Christie?"

Xiao knew about Steve's former fling, as did the rest of Mishima Zaibatsu and anyone who fought in a King of Iron Fist Tournament. How could they not when Christie practically paraded the beach sporting a temporary tramp stamp with Steve's name on it?

"OH GOD NO."

"Then what's up?"

"He's just been kinda depressed lately. I think he went easy on me the last time we sparred."

"Did you ask what his problem was?"

"Obviously."

"What'd he say?"

"Quote, 'I'm just seriously lonely.', unquote." Xiao rolled onto her back again and stared at the ceiling. Leo flopped down next to her.

"I like your ceiling." said Leo after five minutes of silence.

"Thanks."

"It reminds me of the ceilings in my old school. I used to stare at them when I didn't know the answer."

"I don't know anybody who didn't do that." Panda padded towards them through the door. She stopped by Leo and sniffed her hair. "Hey there, Pandabear." said Leo while scratching Panda's chin. Panda let her scratch awhile, then padded off toward the bamboo, her claws making soft clicking sounds on the floor.

"Admit it, Leo."

"Fine. I admit it." Xiao looked at her in surprise. "You're seriously going to admit it?" she said incredulously. Leo nodded and said with a beatific smile on her face:

"Panda is a very cute be-OW!" The beatific smile was soon replaced by a grimace as Xiao slammed the back of her hand into her face. See? Xiaoyu's brutal.

"Not that. That was obvious for a long time now."

"I know. What was it you were going to say to me?"

"I think you like him more than you think you do."

"Like who?"

"Like HIM." Xiao strained the word so that it echoed in the empty dojo. "Oh, Steve?" asked Leo, looking at her.

"Oh no, Mokujin." They burst out laughing at that wisecrack. Sarcastic, brutal and swears worse than a drunken sailor; Xiaoyu is definitely not the typical sweet little Chinese girl with pigtails. When the laughter died down, Leo addressed the issue. "No, we're just best friends."

Oh, the denial of one blonde German girl.

"Leo."

"Xiao?"

"You're a terrible liar." Leo grunted and sat up. "Like you're not a worse liar, Xiao." Xiao stared at her through slits of eyes. "And what is THAT supposed to mean, Eleonore Kliesen?"

"That one time Jin caught you fangirling over his picture-" began Leo with a smug grin.

"SHADDAP YA CRAZY GERMAN." Xiao tackled her full force, pushing her nose into the hardwood floor. Leo reached around and flipped the sweet little Chinese girl over her back. "MAKE ME, PIGTAILS." The two got up and charged at each other, leaving burn marks on the floor.

"YOU HIT LIKE A BITCH, STRUDELFACE!"

"TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE, NOODLE HAIR!"

"TAKE THAT BACK YOU CAVE GIRL!"

"MAKE ME, CHINGLINESE!"  
~~~

Steve was passing by the dojo with a newly-thin Bob to see Wang Jinrei about Chinese food. "Dude, do you hear that?" Bob said while looking around. Steve turned his head in the direction of the sound and saw the dojo bouncing up and down, unbelievable curses streaming from it. Panda came running towards them with some bamboo in her mouth. She roughly squeezed herself into the backseat and put her paws over her ears.

"Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we should come back later." Steve looked at Panda cowering in the backseat and got out of the car. "Do you have a death wish or something, Fox?!" Bob yelled at him from the car.

"I'm not going to interfere. I'm just going to see what's going on." said Steve without looking back at him. Hands in his pockets, the boxer casually walked to the bouncing dojo and walked up the steps. Bob groaned and shook his head. After draping his jacket over Panda, Bob ran out towards Steve.

Bros gotta stick to their bros.  
~~~

"NOODLES!" Leo football-tackled the elusive figure.

"STRUDEL!" Xiao yelled as she tried to backhand the spelunker across the nose.

"YELLOW!" The wrestling match continued, Leo threw herself into it with more vigor.

"CAVE GIRL!" Xiao's voice peaked before her fist connected with Leo's ear. The German roared and leaped into the air.

"TEN THOUSAND-" yelled Leo, preparing the maneuver she learned while playing Naruto with Bob. The original Thousand Years of Pain didn't suit her; she thought it gross to stick one's fingers up another person's ass. So she settled for a flying tackle.

"Hey, is everything-" Steve entered the dojo, looking around for the source of the noise.

"YEARS OF-"

"-okay?"

"Move your candy ass, boxer boy!" screamed Xiao while making a run for it.

"PAAAAAAIN!" A cloud of smoke erupted from where Leo's attack made contact. "Yeah, gotcha there, ya little-" began Leo as she got up a little dizzy from the fall. A groan brought her back to reality.

"Oh God, Steve!"

"Uggggh."

"Sorry!" Leo made a few passes over his face with her hand. His eyes followed her hand as he tried to focus his vision.

"L...Leo?"

"Yeah, sorry about the tackle." she mumbled sheepishly. She wrapped an arm under him and helped him stand up. Xiaoyu had magically vanished into thin air.

"Ten thousand years of pain, huh." said Steve a bit groggily.

"I wasn't aiming for you." mumbled Leo. "God, you're heavy."

"You owe me one for this." Steve pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?"

"For starters, you could walk me back to the car."

"That was the original plan, Fox."

"Then you could buy me Chinese food." he said, looking up at her. Leo shook her head. "Alright fine, test-tube baby."

"Thanks, daddy's girl."  
~~~

Somewhere in the bushes, Xiaoyu was peeking out at the two while Bob was being shushed by Panda's giant paws. "God, they're dense." muttered Xiao, watching them. Bob grunted and rolled his eyes in agreement.

Wang Jinrei is going to have a fit when he sees the dojo. Or what's left of it.  
~

Hellooo~ so there. A bit more to add to...well, whatever this thing is. :)) Sixteen more days, peeps. Sixteen. More. Days. XD Advanced Merry Christmas, and have a hug on me. :D

Read if you like, review if you want to, flame me and you will be ignored. Ja ne~


	3. Realization

The smell of noodles and soy sauce rides through the air, wrapping our two favorite fighters in its midst. Steve sported a very impressive black eye that he insisted on taking a picture of.

"For the last time, Steven Fox, I am not taking a picture of your black eye." an exasperated Leo muttered through a mouthful of noodles. She let Steve steal some of her food and douse it in soy sauce.

"Aw, but Leo, you hit me hard enough-see? It looks exactly like your fist." the boxer raved gleefully while peering at himself in the mirror above their booth. Leo shook her head and stole some of his dumplings. Steve was too busy poking at the bruise to pay any attention to her. _Just like a little kid_, thought Leo as Steve repeatedly poked and pulled the skin over the bruise.

Not much had changed since they had become friends, really.  
~

Skydome. _Pretty decent place to hold a concert in_, thought Leo as she walked around with Asuka and Xiao with her hands in her pockets. "She's eighteen and a beauty quee~n..." crooned a voice from the stage. Immediately, majority of the crowd jumped up and squealed. "Girls." muttered Asuka.

"GIRLY girls." replied Xiao. Leo said nothing. She was too caught up in the music to care. Music was a given part of her existence, next to cave exploring. From the very first moment she heard Freddie Mercury sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the first time she danced with her father, albeit badly since she was only five at the time, to the same Freddie Mercury wailing that, "I...was born...toooooo love you..."...

Well, music had always been there for her. And still has.

Some girls flew by in a rush, miniskirts flying in the breeze. Leo groaned and looked for her friends in the crowd. "Uh, hi." She turned to face the voice.

Steve Fox, formerly NT01. She met him in the sixth King of Iron Fist Tournament, but only found out what his connection to her mother was after gathering data from that train. "Hi." she said. He wasn't wearing his hand protectors; she could make out the outline of the scar on his hand. The only remnant of the devil gene. Here was the man her mother lied and died for.

And yet, Leo didn't feel anything like she expected. She thought that the moment she'd seen him again she would've bitchslapped him to Pluto. Or tied him to a rocket to the moon. Or put laxatives in his food. But no. It felt...normal, having him around. She looked him over again. Blonde hair, blue-green eyes; a little bit more and they would've been considered siblings. Steve produced a plastic bag. "I heard you were Dr. Kliesen's daughter from Marshall, and I thought...uh...I thought I'd..."

"Would you like to sit with me somewhere away from the maddening crowd?" she asked before he could go any further.

"Yeah, sure." He sounded relieved. He handed her the bag. "Hey, it's those lansones things." Leo exclaimed, pulling one out of the bag. "Yeah, Forrest said you liked them." Steve replied a bit sheepishly.

"You know how to eat these right?" she asked him. He shook his head. "Come on, over there." Leo steered them both towards the speakers near the bleachers. "You hold it like this..." she poised the fruit between her fingers. "And squeeze."  
~

Some juice flew at her face, barely missing it and striking her out of her reverie. Steve had managed to get a hold of a bunch of lansones and was unsuccessful at his many attempts to get one open. "I already told you how to open these, remember?" Leo scolded the boxer lightly, taking the fruit.

"I know, I know." Steve laughed.  
~

"I am telling you, kid, women love it when you..." Paul Phoenix was once again corrupting what was left of Forrest Law's innocence. They were training in Steve's gym, Marshall Law teaching the former a technique derived from tiger-style kung fu. "...see, you have to practice this a lot so your nails will get harder, like tiger claws." the elder Law explained as Steve winced in pain after smashing his fingers into a Mokujin replica. "You sure this will work?" asked Steve. He thrust his hand out at the dummy and winced again after his now-sore nails made contact with the wood.

"Yes." said Law, arms crossed and watching him. Steve groaned and got in position to claw at the dummy again. "They proved it on National Geographic." Forrest piped up, obviously tired of listening to Paul ramble on about women's preferences. "And you know what else women hate guys?" Paul called from the bench.

"What?" asked Forrest. Asking what Paul was about to say was Forrest's habit; he couldn't stop even if Marshall tried to gag him to keep him from asking. "Women. Hate. Videogames." said Paul triumphantly.

"Videogames?" grunted Steve, fingers colliding with the dummy again. "There _are _exceptions to the rule you know." Paul made a derisive snort. "I'm the master here, Fox. Ladies adore my physique." Paul flexed his biceps to make his point.

"Yes, just your physique." remarked Marshall. The three of them shared a laugh, Paul frowning at them all. "Now, Steve, the three of us have something to ask." said the elder Law.

"Oh yeah. It's nothing much really, just curious." said Paul.

"Get on with it. What do you want?" asked Steve while continuing his thrusts.

"Well-" began Paul.

"We were wondering when you would make a move on Leo." said Forrest. Steve missed the dummy, Marshall shot a look at him and Paul buried his head in his palm. "What? You guys take forever to ask. Just like Steve." muttered Forrest indignantly. Marshall groaned and massaged the bridge of his nose. "So, when ARE you going to make a move on her, Steve?" he asked.

"We're best friends, Marshall," said Steve between punches. "We act weird around each other."

"You keep saying that and you two will stay that way." said Phoenix sagely.

"And I don't think you'd like that." said Forrest. Steve groaned and cracked his knuckles as he was about to start over when Marshall stopped him. "That's enough. You'll train more tomorrow, then I'll teach you another move." Forrest and Paul picked up their bags and walked off towards the exit. Marshall put his shirt back on and made his way out.

"And Steve?"

"Yeah Marshall?"

"You should give a relationship with Leo a try." said the fighting chef as he walked out, leaving Steve in the empty gym.  
~

That night, Steve thought over what his friends had said.

_We were wondering when you would make a move on Leo._

_You keep saying that and you two will stay that way._

_You should give a relationship with Leo a try._

Confused, the boxer rolled over and punched the pillow. _Make a move on Leo, _he thought. _Ridiculous. _

_You and I both know you've been thinking about it for a while, _a little voice whispered in his subconscious.

Well, even if I did, _conceded Steve, _I don't think she's ever thought about it.

She did leave a mark on you, the little voice stated. Steve gently poked his black eye. He sighed, and rolled over again. Then looked at the clock. 2 AM. He hadn't slept. Steve sat up and passed his hands over his face. His phone was sitting on the bedside table, next to the clock. Absently, he picked it up and pressed some buttons. Leo's number flashed on the screen.

_That's it, _said the little voice, _call her._

_At two in the morning? Are you nuts?_ muttered Steve. And then it dawned on him.

_I'm not nuts, I'm falling for her. _

Steve looked at the screen again, Leo's number next to her picture. He sighed, locked the phone, and went to sleep.  
~~~

I didn't want to do chemistry homework, so I made this...thing. *crowd in the background states that there is a badass in the room* Harhar, fine.

Hey, here's something we ought to do after December 21: we should eat. And drink. And play Tekken. Basically party. Agreed? Agreed. We're gonna party like it's the end of the world~

*sees clock* Aw crap, time for me to go. Maybe if I'm not too busy this week, I'll make a bit more. An OC's going to show up in a later chapter, and she's going to have a pretty decent part. Ja ne~


	4. Interviewed

"You want an interview?" Leo asked. "Yes, please." Leo looked the girl over. She seemed the typical Asian; black hair, slight tan, but her eyes were a soothing blue. _Probably one of those Fil-Ams they keep talking about, _thought Leo. "It's for the school paper," the girl went on. "We're interviewing the student body's favorite King of Iron Fist fighters."

"And I'm one of them?" asked Leo skeptically. The girl nodded. "Yup. You're popular because people like your fight style and because majority of the male population was hoping you were a girl."

"...they like my fight style?" The part about her ambiguous gender was the norm, but people really saying they liked her fight style was new. "Uh huh. Comments on your fight style ranged from," the girl flipped through her notebook. "'versatile' to 'badass' to 'fucking epic'." Leo had to laugh at that one.

"Alright. Interview all you want." The girl turned on her recorder.  
~

Q: What's you fight style called?

A: Baji Quan, aka Hakkyoku-ken or Kai Men Baji Quan. The name means 'open-gate eight-extremities fist'. It's more on defense and uses the elbows a lot.

Q: Where did you learn?

A: Honestly, I learned the basics from my dad, then after a while I joined a dojo. Formal training got boring after a while, so I quit. But I practiced by entering a tournament every now and then.

Q: I heard you're from Germany. What's it like?

A: In the winter, freezing. But it's a pretty nice place all in all. We also have strudel and Wacken.

Q: Wacken?

A: It's the annual music festival. Bands come in from everywhere. It happens around October; you should go if you're in the area around that time.

Q: Music festival, huh. Maybe I will go. Tell us a bit about this 'spelunking' thing. What do you do?

A: First of all, I do not spelunk. I cave.

Q: Oh, so there _is_ a difference. Care to expound?

A: Yeah, not that many people know the difference. Caving is where you learn techniques for exploring, meet people who like exploring; it's basically like a martial art you train for at a dojo. Spelunking is the daredevil version. Nobody really like spelunkers; they tend to be a bit stupid.

Q: Define 'stupid'.

A: The last spelunker I went on an expedition with squeezed himself into a crack for a Facebook photo. He got stuck and we had to call off the expedition and stay there for half a day.

Q: Okay, the stupidity level on that one was a bit high. Have you been to any good caves lately?

A: I've been on caving trips with my friends in Palawan. It's beautiful there. Oh, and we may be going to explore the sewers in Rome. The sewers have a proper name, but I can't remember it. If I could remember it, I wouldn't be able to pronounce the Latin.

Q: I don't blame you. Latin's tough. There's a lot of talk about your mom. Think you can add some info?

A: My mom was a scientist for the G-Corporation. She did a lot of research on the properties of the Devil Gene. When she died, the police called off the investigation and said it was a suicide, an accident, meh. I didn't stick around for their explanations.

Q: Is your mom the reason you joined the last Iron Fist tournament?

A: Yeah. I know she was killed by someone from G-Corp, I won't say who since it's a school paper.

Q: It's okay. But tell me, do you have any suspicions?

A: Kazuya Mishima. No one else.

Q: Hmm. So your mom did research on the Devil gene. Is she the one who saved Steve Fox?

A: Yeah. Mom was very sweet.

Q: Well, what about your dad? Where is he?

A: He was a famous caver; he disappeared on an expedition when I was, what, eleven, twelve... I was young when he left and didn't come home. People said he died, some said he was to addicted to exploring to care about his wife and kid.

Q: What do you say?

A: Dad loved us. He would call a lot when he was away. He always brought me a memento of some sort whenever he left. I still have the rose quartz he gave when he came back from his last expedition.

Q: That's sweet, you keeping it like that.

A: Haha, thanks.

Q: Last question, what can you say about Steve Fox?

A: He's my best friend. Don't look at me like that, I swear, he's just my best friend.

Q: I really don't believe that, but I like you, so I'll put that down word for word. Anything you'd like to say to your fans?

A: I am a girl, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.  
~

"Thanks for your time, Miss Kliesen." said the girl. Leo scoffed. "Please, my name's Leo."

"Thanks Leo." the girl said, smiling, as she got up to go. Leo couldn't shake the feeling she had about the girl; something was very familiar about her. "Wait." The girl turned around. "You know my name, what's yours?" The girl smiled.

"I am Elias."  
~

Steve Fox was punching the life out of one of his body bags when Marshall brought the letter. "Not again." he muttered while reading the print.

**KING OF IRON FIST TOURNAMENT 7  
Sponsored by G-Corporation and Kazuya Mishima.  
Registration: July 3rd, 2013**

"Will you tag team with us again?" asked Marshall. In reply, Steve removed his glove and used the technique Marshall taught him the other day on the body bag. The bag ripped in half.

"Definitely."  
~

The same letter had reached Leo that night, courtesy of Dragunov stoically knocking on her door and delivering the letter with a message from her rival Lili de Rochefart, sorry, Rochefort.

**Come on, let's see you fight again, bishounen.**

The phone rang and she answered.

"Hey." a voice greeted her coolly over the phone.

"Steve? Kinda late don't you think?"

"I know, but did you get a letter too?"

"Yeah." Leo stretched out on the bed. "It'll be a good chance to mess with Kazuya."

"I take it you're going then." She could feel his smile through the phone line. "Obviously, test-tube baby." she replied.

"Any time for noodles with me tomorrow?" Leo sat bolt upright. "Steven Fox, are you asking me out?" Was it just her, or did she sound a bit too hopeful?

"Well...uh...see...if you wanted to...but it's okay if it's just alone time with a friend...and I...uh...what do you say about l-lunch?" His cool voice was gone and his nervous stutter had taken its place. Leo smiled, grateful he couldn't see her through the phone lines.

"Sure. Alone time with a friend at lunch." Steve laughed over the phone and bid her good night. As she said said goodbye and put the phone back on the nightstand, Leo wondered whether Steve Fox really was just her best friend after all.  
~

A silent figure watched Kazuya Mishima pace his balcony. The figure stooped and stared intently at him, then disappeared into the shadows of the twilight realm.  
~

Helloooo, beautiful fans of Tekken and the LeoxSteve pairing~ Here I have a plot line and an OC. I couldn't resist just having a plain old love story; it may work for Nicholas Sparks but not for me. I'll be having a bit of work to do from now until Saturday, so I thought I'd leave something to mess with while I'm away.

Oh yeah, before I go, do you guys want any info on the OC right away or do I just build her up as the plot runs?

Read if you want, review if you like, flame me and be ignored. Ja ne~


	5. Friend date? Really?

At lunch the next day, Leo Kliesen sat in Marshall China hiding her face behind a book. Xiao and Asuka had found out about Steve's phone call after barging in on her within minutes of her putting down the phone.  
~

"Was that him on the phone just now, Kliesen?"

"Jesus, Asuka, chill." muttered Leo, blocking her with a pillow.

"Obviously, who else would it be, Mokujin?" said Xiao as she grabbed the pillow. "So..."

"So what?"

"Details, sweetheart, details." said Asuka after calming down enough to grab the pillow from Xiao. The two fought over it a while, then agreed to split it between them. Literally.

"Lunch at Marshall's. Noodles." said Leo, not really knowing what else to say.

"That's all he said?" asked Xiao.

"You'd think a guy like him would be a bit better at picking up chicks." muttered Asuka.

"Excuse me, but I am _definitely_ not a chick." scoffed Leo. "She's right, she's not a chick." said Xiao. Leo was about to thank her for taking her side for once when...

"She's Steve's girl now." The ensuing bitch fight was unbelievable; the only written record of it is vaulted in a Swiss account.  
~

Steve Fox, on the other hand, wasn't doing much better himself. Paul and Forrest had found out that he had finally asked Leo out, albeit badly, and demanded that he have a drink or two to celebrate. While he only had two drinks, he was tipsy enough to call a bet with Forrest Law. After failing to pull off a Marshall-Law-style backflip, Steve had a permanent marker dragon tattoo on his lower back. Most people would expect a dragon tattoo to be cool even though it was only drawn on with permanent marker, but semi-drunk Forrest Law isn't the best tattoo artist out there. Steve ducked into a public bathroom to take a look at the damage.

"Oh God. At least no one's going to see this."  
~

Moments later, Steve slunk into the booth next to Leo. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Silence. "Um..."

"Would you-a like-a to order now sir?" a tall man with an obviously fake mustache and a green shirt asked them.

Marshall Law had never looked so ridiculous in his life.

"Um, yeah... Could we have the special..." Steve peered at the name tag. "Lu..igi?" A flash f yellow darted by, knocking Marshall out of the way. "Hai, the special-aru Secret Ingredient Soup-desu." said the blonde man sporting a name tag reading Goku and a head of hair that looked like it was dipped in a vat of grease.

"Coming right up, guv'nor!" yelped a boy in a terrible impression of Dick Van Dyke. Forrest Law, wearing a beret and a jacket, wheeled the blonde man out of the way. Leo noticed, between snickers from behind her book, that they were pretty much the only two customers at Marshall's, since it was very obvious that the ''couple'' at the next table were just Xiao and Asuka posing as 1920's-esque detectives. The two peered at them from behind the newspapers they were holding.

"Hi, can I get you guys anything else?" Leo looked up and saw the blue-eyed girl from before holding a pen and pad. "Elias?" she asked in disbelief.

"Hey, Leo." said Elias a bit smugly, moving her eyebrows in Steve's direction. "Could you get me two Cokes?" asked Steve, looking around to see if this was another prank. The three stooges were gone; the noir-detectives from the 1920's had made their exit. "Sure." said Elias, scribbling it down on her pad and walking away.

"You know her?" asked Steve once Elias was out of earshot. "Yeah, she interviewed me just yesterday." said Leo, not peering out from behind her book. Steve thought it strange, but decided not to push it. He contented himself with raising an eyebrow at the German. "Funny, she interviewed me the day before yesterday."

"Yes I did." The two jumped as the blue-eyed Asian gently removed their order from her arms. "How do you do that?" asked Steve in wonder as the plates slid gently down her limbs and onto the table. Elias shrugged. "My mom was a waitress," she said, as if it explained it all. "Enjoy your meal, _Tiyo_ Marshall's paying for it. And Leo..." Leo looked at her over the book.

"I think Steve would like it better if he could see how you look right now. Bye." Elias sauntered off to the kitchen. The silence was deafening after she left. Steve broke it after a minute or two.

"Leo?" he asked, pulling down the book. Leo shut her eyes and waited for the outburst that never came. Instead...

"You're wearing lipstick." stated Steve. Leo looked everywhere except where she was supposed to look. "Do you want it off?" asked Steve. She nodded. Steve wetted the napkin with some of the condensation from his coke and gently wiped it off. "Thank you." mumbled Leo.

"No problem, guv'nor." The two laughed heartily and started on Phase One of their da- alone time with a friend.  
~

Six people watched from the porthole in the kitchen door. Elias was the first to pull away and leave. "I was kinda expecting you guys to have a bit more style." she muttered while pulling her jacket on. "Yeah," said Forrest as he got out from between Paul and Xiao.

"You're one to talk, Elia. It was your idea." mumbled Asuka, looking at herself in her detective get-up in the reflective metal of the kitchen door. "Why did you do it anyway? You barely know them." asked Paul.

"You barely know _us_." said Xiao. Elias shrugged and exited through the back. Marshall peered over at the two laughing over their previous antics and peeled off his faux mustache.

"I know why." he said, not taking his eyes off them. They all looked at the elder Law, waiting for an answer. Leo had probably made some wisecrack that the two were laughing over. "You do?" said Paul. Marshall nodded. "I've known her for a long time." he said, apparently not wanting to say more.

Nobody pressed him for an answer.  
~

"Kazuya has something else up his sleeve, is it?" Lars Alexandersson muttered in reply to the shadowy figure. "How do you know?"

"I watched." a metallic voice grated out. Lars nodded, his hand toying with the .44. "And why do you want to help me and my cause?" Nina sat next to him, watching the figure. She stared at it intently, hoping her stare would force it to make a mistake.

"I have my reasons, sir." the figure said respectfully and slid a USB onto the table. It then disappeared out the window that it demanded be left open for it. Lars picked up the USB and plugged it in. It contained only a .txt file and a program called Watcher. Lars expertly installed it and was immediately logged into a hidden site. Nina walked to the window and looked out. Nobody. She closed the window.

"Mother of God." muttered Lars in awe. The minute he had entered the coordinates listed in the .txt file, images of Kazuya Mishima's base appeared on-screen. Live videos, a position on the radar... The shadowy figure was very thorough. "How could it do all this without being caught?" Nina stared in wonder at the screen. Lars sighed.

"No matter how it manages to get this information," he said, looking at the last words on the .txt file.

**Equivalent exchange, sir. My help in exchange for yours. I will return within seven days' time.**

"We're damn lucky it decided to help us."  
~

"I had fun Steve, thanks." said Leo as they drove through the streets. "Hey, come on, like I didn't have any fun too." replied Steve. After turning a corner, they came to an impenetrable wall of traffic. "No problem," he said. "I'll just work my way..." he drove down an alley.

"..around..." he came out near a road that was under construction. "Here." _God, what am I going to do?, _he thought. "Sorry, Leo, did you say something?" The blonde was twiddling her thumbs in the passenger's seat.

"We could go to your place...it has a gym..." She mentally slapped herself. _It has a gym?! Are you on crack or something, Kliesen?!_

"You sure?" _Holy fuck, she wants to go to my place..._

"Well, my place is close by, I can walk-"

"WE'RE GOING TO MY PLACE!" Steve stepped on the gas, and the traffic magically made way for them both.  
~

A slight breeze blew the curtains in Kazuya's room by the sea. Though his name said 'peace', his actions were nothing short of violence. He was watching the window.

Waiting.

"I know you're there." he said, as if to no one in particular. There really wasn't anyone there to say it to; the shadowy figure had left an hour before, though not without something important.  
~

Monday. =_= it's the last Monday of the year where I have to get up to go to school, but that doesn't change the fact that it's Monday. Here's a little schmutz, apparently our two lovebirds are winging it this time. XD Hooah to Marshall Law for managing the Luigi impression! Paul was supposed to do it, but he didn't fit the profile. You see what he did to the Goku hair. =)))))

Read if you like, review if you want to, flame me...*proceeds to ignore flames like a boss*.


	6. The First Challenger

Elias lay facedown in her underwear on several ice packs covering her bed. The heat had outdone itself today, roasting her in her own apartment. She looked around the premises with an appraising eye. Not a bad job for a sixteen-year-old. The landlord was an old family friend. While he couldn't let her have the place for free, even though nobody wanted the top floor since the heat was killer there, he let her pay rent every two months. If she couldn't pay up, he let her fix some of the broken things around the place, which there were a lot of. She groaned and rolled over. The ceiling fan whirred with everything it had but it still couldn't make the room any cooler. Elias groaned and heaved a wrench at it. It bounced off harmlessly and landed on her stomach. She let it stay there.

"Damn this heat." she muttered. Blue eyes roamed the apartment again, this time settling on a framed photo sitting on the nightstand. A man smiled benevolently at her, one arm around a younger version of herself, a certain blonde plastered in with Photoshop. Elias sat up and stared at it a while. This picture was the last thing she had left of a father, of a family. At least after a madman killed the man in the photo. She frowned at the memory. Marshall found her soon after that. She was no better than any other urchin on the streets of Manila, begging for an odd piso or, if the target looked rich enough, slipping a hand down their back pockets in jeepneys.

Except she had a bolo. Which the police tried to arrest her for several times.

The alarm rang, interrupting her reverie. She looked at it for a moment, then chucked a wrench at it, knocking it off the dresser. She looked up at the ceiling fan. "I'll make some repairs on you later." she said to no one in particular. A few minutes later, she was dressed in jeans, army boots and a vest with buckles over the front that suffocated a growing bosom, the necessary papers hidden in the shirt underneath. Elias picked up her bolo and unsheathed it. The blade glittered, straight and true. She put it back in its sheath and looked at the picture again. The man still smiled benevolently at her. One last glance around the apartment, then she flicked off the ceiling fan and locked the door behind her.  
~

Lars Alexandersson stared at the shadow before him. It was true to its word, a week had passed before it returned to slide an envelope across the table to him. Nina stopped glaring at it and contented herself with narrowing her eyes at it.

"How did you get these?" asked Lars while flipping through the papers.

"I picked them up, sir." the figure replied, a bit cheekily. Nina started, but Lars' hand on her arm stopped her mid-flight. "Forgive me sir, but I must remind you of your end of the bargain." the shade went on.

"I don't recall ever making a bargain with you." Lars told the figure. A glint of light at its side made him rethink it. "Oh, that bargain. The equivalent exchange?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, what do you want from me?" Nina's hand unconsciously went to her gun.

"That will come in a moment sir, because I think you have a question for me."

_Damn, the shade was good, _thought Lars. He rested his elbows on the table and put the tips of his fingers together. "Why are you doing this?"

"For my father."

"Who is your father?"

"He is dead." He understood. This shadow needed him for revenge, or so he thought.

"Fine then, what is it you need from me?" The shade seemed to cock its head.

"The file on Emma Kliesen."

A few minutes later, the shade disappeared out the window with the file in a USB, leaving Lars and Nina alone in the conference room. "Did you?" asked Lars. Nina pointed to a security camera. Heihachi's lost son typed in a password and entered the security database. A click on the icon that represented the camera in the conference room brought on a little chuckle. "What?" asked Nina, looking over at the screen.

**You will know who I am at the proper time, sir. Until then, do not try to see my face.**

Nina sat back down in her chair and exhaled. "Whoever it is, they definitely know how to play the game."  
~

Steve Fox passed through registration with his friends and took their seats in the arena. "So." said Forrest.

"How did it go?" asked Paul. Marshall said nothing but shook his head at them. "Steve, if you don't want to tell us, it's alright." The boxer shifted uneasily under their gaze. "Fine." The younger Law and Phoenix listened eagerly, Marshall's face impassive.

"That night-" the Englishman was interrupted by the sight of a certain spelunker being pushed into the arena. Leo was putting up quite the fight, Asuka and Xiao were straining with everything they could to move her closer to him, but she whispered something to them and they let her go, allowing Leo to sprint madly across several aisles to a seat safely away from the proximity of Steve Fox. Xiao waved hi to them, Asuka gave him a thumbs-up.

"See, that night," he went on, only to be interrupted by the robotic announcer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 7th King of Iron Fist Tournament."  
~

"Alright, Kliesen, spill." Asuka commanded with one hand on the blonde's collar. "There's nothing to spill." insisted Leo.

"You're a terrible liar, Strudelface." muttered Xiao. Leo hung her head in defeat. "Alright, alright." she muttered. Leo took a deep breath and looked straight ahead, trying to ignore the fact that Steve was probably feeling weird about that night.

"That night, Steve and I-"

"Please welcome our first new challenger!" the robotic voice announced in monotone. The three of them looked up immediately. New challengers were rare in Iron Fist Tournaments; most usually didn't get past the first screening. Two were unheard of, considering there were four the last time, Leo included. Whoever they were, they must be good at what they do. "The FIRST new challenger?" muttered Asuka in awe. Xiao was gaping slightly, Leo's eyes glued to the swamp arena. It was first this time around; it was last in the sixth Iron Fist Tournament.

To the surprise of everyone who knew her, Elias casually walked through the doors, one hand holding her faithful unsheathed bolo over her shoulder. Leo sprang from her seat and raced down to the railing, Steve following close behind. Xiao and Asuka had taken the opportunity to move over to where Marshall Law held back his son and best friend from ruining the moment.

"They care a lot about Elia, don't they Marshall?" Asuka remarked, watching Elias stand in the center of the swamp, waiting for her opponent. Marshall nodded. "Leo has the most reason to care. Steve considered her a good friend ever since SOMEONE-" here he shook Phoenix roughly. "-ruined the moment by dressing up like Goku." Paul just rolled his eyes at his friend.  
~

"Elias versus..." The other door opened slowly. Leo held her breath, knuckles turning white from her grip on the railing.

"Bryan Fury!" The cyborg jumped out of the darkness, his robotic eye fixed on the blue-eyed girl. Steve flinched. They were being cruel, putting someone like Bryan Fury up against Elias.  
~

"Ready...FIGHT!"

Fury lashed out at her, his face contorted in rage. Elias jumped, her bolo slicing him across the back and exposing the machinery under his skin. "You're soft for a metal man." said Elias. Fury got up and paced the floor, robotic eyes still fixed on her, a manic smile across his face.

"You've got spunk for a little girl." said Fury. Elias frowned. He lashed out at her again, knocking her against the wall and making her drop her bolo. "I don't like that." She got up quickly and spotted her bolo stuck in a log. Unfortunately, Fury saw it too and raced toward it.  
~

Steve watched in horror as Elias tackled Bryan Fury away from her bolo and tied up him up with vines to buy her some time. He saw her grab the bolo and hack madly at the cyborg, the manic smile still visible on his face. A flick of the wrist, and Elias flew across the swamp.  
~

Elias propped herself up on her bolo and faced the cyborg. He looked impressed that she was still alive. "How does it feel to be cut, little girl?" he sneered. Her hand flew to her forehead and felt something trickling down her cheek. What she thought was just sweat was her own blood. She smiled, and the cyborg flinched.

Her smile was cold and cruel, something the Joker would have done before nonchalantly killing someone.

"You..." she rushed at him, waving the bolo. He blocked her first slash properly, but a second slash sliced through his arm. Fury grabbed for her legs, but she had jumped onto his arm and stabbed at his mechanical eye. He howled and sent her flying, feet first, into a wall. She got up, slightly dizzy from the blood loss, and pointed the tip of her blade at him. He glared at her, sparks flying from his other eye.

"You hit like a bitch."  
~

Nina sat with Lars at the other end of the arena, watching as Bryan Fury charged at the girl again. "What do you think she's planning to do?" asked Lars. The assasin shrugged, and leaned back to watch more comfortably.

She's a smart kid, thought Nina as the girl lured the cyborg into deeper water.  
~

"YOU BITCH!" yelled Fury as he swiped at her. Elias blocked his metal arms with her bolo, but the cyborg grabbed it and hurled the blade across the swamp, embedding it in a tree on the other side.

"I've heard worse insults from a baby." said Elias, calculating her next move. Fury's eye was spitting sparks everywhere, as were his arm and back. A vine swung lazily by her. She followed it with her eyes, keeping track of the cyborg trying to pin her to the wall. The vine led to a very precarious-looking bundle of logs above them, just over the knee-deep water. She backed away toward it, allowing her face to show fear.

"Hah. Not so tough without your sword, now are you, little girl?" sneered Fury as he swung at her. She blocked his arm and landed a flurry of kicks and punches on him. He ignored them, but grimaced when she punched through his exoskin. "You're getting annoying, kid." he said, sending a hand through her defense and clutching her neck. "Time for you to go."  
~

Leo's knuckles were a pale and bloodless as she watched Bryan Fury hold Elias in the air by the neck. Elias looked straight at her and smiled. The spelunker blinked and saw the cyborg shake her furiously. The blue-eyed Asian made a motion with her lips in the opposite direction. Leo looked and saw the blade stuck in the tree across from them, on the dry side of the swamp.

"Please." Fury held the girl higher. "Please, oh dear God please." She didn't know why she cared so much, why Elias had such an effect on her, but she'd gladly leave those questions for later, provided that Elias find a way out.  
~

"Any last words, Princess?" Fury grinned evilly. Elias grabbed the vine, the cyborg was so drunk on the assurance of victory that he didn't notice. "First, get this, Tin Man." She threw her hand straight at the cyborg's mechanical eye, ripping it out of its socket. She bled heavily as the metal tore her skin, but she knew she had won, and she didn't feel the pain. He cried out in pain and let her go. Elias jumped onto his back, still holding the vine. Fury felt her presence and grabbed her arm, throwing her to the other side of the swamp.

Elias yanked the vine, sending logs crashing down on Bryan Fury, knocking him into the water. The place fizzled, sparks crackled madly, and an explosion shook the arena and covered the swamp in smoke.  
~

Steve held Leo as tears flowed heavily down the German's cheeks. Xiao and Asuka hugged; Forrest couldn't help himself and cried softly into his shirt. Paul Phoenix looked away. Only the elder Law held fast, his head high and proud.

Nina bowed her head, Lars pinched the bridge of his nose. "Another good fighter gone." he said sadly.

"Elias..." whispered Leo, blonde hair hiding her eyes. The smoke cleared, and Steve saw her first; a girl standing on a bolo sticking out of a tree, tall and proud. "Elias?" he asked. He had no way of knowing if the smoke had gone to his head or if the figure was really there.

"I am not a princess." she said. Marshall beamed with pride. Forrest dried his tears and shook Phoenix madly. Asuka stood and Xiao threw her head back in relief. Leo looked up, tears drying instantly as she ran out of Steve's arms and towards the figure.

"I knew she was a smart kid." said Nina, her respect for the girl growing. Lars smiled.  
~

Elias found a foothold and pulled her bolo out, then climbed up the tree and vaulted over the railing. Bryan Fury was knocked out cold in the knee-deep water of the swamp. It would be days before he could be in working order again, she made sure of that. She saw Leo running towards her and a smile different from the one that made the cyborg flinch spread across her features.

"I am the fucking queen." she whispered, before collapsing into Leo's arms.  
~

Hey there. :D Christmas Eve, peeps, though I'd leave a gift since it's Christmas and I've been gone a while. So here, a fight scene between my dear OC and Bryan Fury. He hits like a bitch. XD

You know the drill. Read, optional review, no flaming 'cause it's Christmas tomorrow. Ja ne, and have a merry Christmas~ =))))


	7. Hot Chocolate

Drip...drip...drip...drip...

"You're a really creative fighter, you know that?" murmured Leo as she watched the blue-eyed girl sleep on a hospital bed. A concussion, the doctor said, she won't be conscious for a day or two. The German looked her over. Elias' hand was wrapped tightly in several layers of gauze and supported by a splint; nothing broke, but after she tried scratching herself in her sleep several times with it the nurses tied it to a piece of cardboard. A small patch adorned her forehead where Bryan Fury cut her. It wasn't too deep to raise much of an alarm, but it did need a stitch or two.

Leo sat back in the chair. She was alone, save for the patient.

She left for the hospital immediately after her fight with Anna Williams-she won obviously, Nina grinning evilly from her post next to Lars. Steve tried to go with her, but since he was the third match, she persuaded him to stay. Marshall promised to visit with Paul and Forrest, as did Asuka and Xiao. Leo wondered absently if Jin would make an appearance. If the rumors were true, then he wasn't really dead.

Elias' bolo sat in the corner, unsheathed. It glinted, but not in the menacing way most swords did. It glinted the way the diamond in the rough would have. Yoshimitsu once told her before a match that swords had personalities, attitudes, and most swords, through time and patience, came to bond with their masters. Leo closed her eyes. That sword was a heap of trouble to keep; when the guards saw Elias clinging on to it, they tried to confiscate it. It didn't work very well, since Elias magically got up from the gurney and, in a spectacular show of martial arts, beat them soundly and muttered, "Don't touch my baby," before flopping back down. Security got it all on videotape.

The doctors said she was a different case altogether.

A small groan brought the caver back to reality. She looked over at her. Elias had only turned her face towards her in her sleep.

"Jeez." At least, she thought, now she could stop worrying about her.

"You know, the doctor said you might be out cold for a day or two." she told her. Elias breathed softly in response. "He said to talk to you every now and then," Leo went on. Nothing. "I'm going to rant a little, is that okay?" she asked again. No answer. She sighed.

"Do you want to hear my rant about mom first-" The sleeper didn't react. "-or Steve?" Her good hand twitched and Leo slid hers into it. "Steve first, huh?" The hand twitched again. Leo sighed again.

"You drive a hard bargain even in your sleep, E-li."  
~

That night, Steve drove me back to his place. It had started to rain by then, and we had to stay outside in the rain while Steve fumbled with his keys, but neither of us seemed to care. Minutes later, we were trudging wetly down the hallway to his room.

Which, contrary to popular belief about boys' rooms, was clean and neat. Steve rummaged through his drawers. "I don't really have girls over for anything," he said, throwing socks around in his search. "All I have are boxers-"

"Well, naturally, you ARE a boxer." I said. Steve laughed before digging up some boxer shorts from the bottom of the pile. "You don't say." He put some of the socks he threw around back in the drawer. "It's not against the law to sit on the bed, Leo." he remarked.

"I'm wet, ya crazy Brit." I laughed. A small part of my mind chided me for being a bit suggestive. I told it to kiss my ass.

"I'm wet too."

"It's YOUR bed."

"Just sit ya crazy German." I smiled and complied. He got up and opened the doors to his closet. "How do you feel about this one?" Steve held out a blue polo shirt for my inspection. "You know I hate formal wear, Steven." I said, reaching out for the shirt anyway. "I know you do." he replied, handing it over to me.

Silence.

"Oh, right, sorry, I'll just-" In his haste to get out, he knocked his forehead against the door, making me snicker. One hand over his forehead, Steve left the room and closed the door behind him.

"That was terrible," I heard him mutter to himself through the door.

"Well, I can't just stay there and watch," he continued his debate with himself. He groaned.

"I'm going to go make hot chocolate,", I heard him say in defeat. He stomped off to the kitchen, completely forgetting that he still had his wet clothes on.  
~

The airconditioning whirred softly in the room. Elias was still knocked out, her hand twitching around Leo's whenever she stopped talking. "Excuse me," a nurse said as she came into the room with a needle. "Just some extra medication."

Once the nurse was gone, the blonde continued.  
~

"ACHOO!" Steve made us some very good hot chocolate, but forgot to change into something warmer, hence the sneezing. I offered to get him one of his hoodies, but he refused and said some boxers and blanket were good enough. I had turned around to let him change.

'Do you know what color the fire is?', my subconscious whispered to me. 'I think you should turn around and look.'

'It's orange and yellow.', I replied, not rising to the bait. "You can turn around now." said Steve, patting the couch next to him. He was shirtless-'Again.', muttered my subconscious.-under a blanket I pulled from his bed. The electricity died during the storm, and it was getting cold, so why not light a fire right? I sat next to him with my knees to my chest and sipped my hot chocolate.

"Sorry." I looked over at him.

"What for?"

"We stayed out-'tchoo!-too late." he sniffed. I waved my hand to dismiss the problem. "It's alright. I don't have any cocoa at my place anyway." We laughed over that. It was really quiet in the living room for a while before Steve broke the silence.

"I've never had a girl over here before."

"What an honor, whoopee." I said flatly. He smiled into his mug and traced the edge with his finger. "Not even Christie?" I asked, not because I was jealous, nein, nothing like that. Steve shook his head. "No." He took another sip. "We never came here. I usually just hung out at her place after dates and stuff." I looked him over.

Nope, didn't look bitter, not even a little bit. More like... Nonchalant.

"Listen," I began. 'You're going to ask now of all times?!', my subconscious asked incredulously. I ignored it and went on. "Did you do it with her?"

"Christie?"

"Yeah. She was," I waited for a better word. "...bragging about it, you know, stuff like how good you were-" He burst out laughing, then sneezed once. I offered him a tissue which he took gratefully and flicked into the garbage.

"Nope. Definitely not true." he chuckled. "I've never even had my first time."

"A guy like you?" I raised an eyebrow. 'Oooh, dat iiiis.' said my subconscious.

'One more out of you and I'm hurling you down an airshaft.' I snarled at it.

"Seriously, Leo, no." he said before sipping some more cocoa. I felt kind of... relieved.  
~

Leo paused for breath. "Then what?" asked a voice, making her jump.

"You're alive?"

"No I'm not. Call the undertaker." Elias grinned. "But before you do, let's hear the rest of that." Leo raised an eyebrow at the teen. "It's just you and me, sister." said Elias.

"Fine. They won't be here for another hour or so anyway."  
~

An hour of chatting and a mug of hot chocolate later, I found myself under a blanket next to a shirtless Steve Fox on a couch in front of a fire in his apartment. He had asked if I was cold, and in my obvious naivete, I said yes thinking he was going to make more hot chocolate. I was going to tell him not to before he raised the corner of the blanket.

"Wanna share?"

And that was that.

I have to admit, the close proximity made me a leetle a bit nervous. I glanced up and saw him peeking down at me. A hand crept around a waist and pulled someone closer. It would have been strange with anyone else, but with him it seemed natural. He was warmer now, and had stopped sneezing. I swung my legs around a bit and made myself comfortable in his lap.

'Not bad.' conceded my girlier subconscious.  
~

"Leo," Elias interrupted her a moment. "Do you know what the 'kilig' factor is?"

"I think I have an idea."

"Good. And good on you for being girlier at that point." Leo smiled shyly and went on.  
~

It got colder and the fire went out. "Are you too lazy to go light the fire again?" he asked me. He sounded kind of like he was hoping I was.

"Yeah. I'm warm enough anyway." Seriously, I was just fine, uh, with him, yeah, I was just fine with him. "Good." I heard him say, and felt him cross his legs on the sofa. I leaned on him, and no, shame was obviously not part of my vocabulary at that point.

Being there with him, not moving, or talking, or anything, just being there with him... It was actually really nice.

"Leo?"

"Mm?"

"You're a girl." It was a statement, not a question. I nodded. "Good."

It was a nice kiss. It was really sweet because he didn't just shove his tongue down my throat or smear it over my face like you see in the movies sometimes. I'm talking about the kind of kiss you'd expect seven-year-olds give to each other. And it just went on from there. Arms around his neck, moving a little bit to get kissed better... It happened naturally. I could feel my stomach winding up and it felt strangely good.

Then the tongue.

Oh God that tongue.  
~

"Don't look at me like that. You would have liked it too." Leo told Elias who was grinning madly at her.

"It wasn't me there, remember?"

"Do you want to hear the rest of it or not?" The teen quieted down and dangled her bandaged hand over the bed.

"Anyway..."  
~

His hands were really warm on my back when we kissed. Tongues touched, and well, I admit, it was a bit of a turn-on. It was still raining really hard, but neither of us really cared.

And then... I felt his rod against me. Seriously. It was a turn-on too, but kind of scary. I had a friend in highschool who told me that you don't lose your virginity all at once; it happens gradually. You hear your first dirty joke and understand it, say goodbye to a piece of your virginity. First kiss, lose a little more virginity. Second base, sayonara, fragment-of-virginity-san.

So, since my farthest is first base, according to my calculations I am... 50% virgin. I mean, after all, you ARE going to hear a dirty joke and be able to relate at least once right?

Moving on.

It was getting pretty bad. I couldn't just stop, every time I stopped it felt like I needed a teeny bit more. If he had just gone through with that a little longer, if he had been the type to have sex on the first date, I'd be among the ranks of non-virgins now. But...

"Leo, I think we have to stop." You get mixed feelings when someone tells you that, believe me. You feel relieved, unsatisfied, hurt, the whole gamut of feelings from A to Z in a matter of seconds. Honestly, right then it was more on nervousness and hurt. "I'm doing it wrong, aren't I?" See? Obviously still 50% virgin.

"No, it's not that. It's just..."

"You can tell me you know." I nearly said I was his best friend. Dammit, I am definitely sure I don't want to be just his best friend.

"It's the first date."

"Clue me in, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Unlike other men on the planet, I don't believe in sex on the first date." he said quietly, motioning at his hard-on.

Thank God. I was seriously getting scared. Poor little 50% virgin me.

"It's okay. Really."

"And..."

"And?"

"You were getting kinda scared." he pointed out. I started to defend my honor. He kissed me again. "Shut it. I know you were getting scared." He glanced over at the wall clock. 11 PM.

"Sleepy, ya crazy German?"

"Kinda."

"Go on then. I'm staying-"

"In there with me so the monsters don't get me? Wonderful. How brave of you, sir knight." And I dragged him with me to his room.  
~

Elias sat up with some difficulty. "I'm guessing nothing happened?" Leo shook her head. "Nope. We did sleep together, but not that way." Elias raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, two, three more kisses, but that was all. No second base or third base." The teen nodded and ruffled her hair. "It's alright, you were probably wonderful." said Elias after seeing the caver look a little dejected.

"Maybe. I guess he's not like other men on the planet."

"He's not a man at all." Leo scowled and started to defend the absent Brit.

"He's a gentleman, that's what he is."  
~

Hey there. :)) so, here's my first attempt at a kiss scene. It's kinda obvious that I have no idea what I'm doing. XD I felt kinda romantic today, after all Christmas is about love too you know, all kinds of love. And I'm obviously old-school too, with the no-sex-on-first-date policy, hardiharhar. I hope I kept Leo true to form, though.

You know the drill. Read if you like, review if you want to... okay, I read it over again and I guess you can flame it if you want to. But not until the 26th please. It's still legally Christmas here in the Philippines. Spread the love, Merry Christmas~

P.S. Kilig - (n) that feeling you get when you're near your crush, lover, significant other, boyfriend, girlfriend, vice versa. Can't find that on Google Translate, can ya? Okay maybe you can, but you get the picture.


	8. Another Kliesen

"Have I mentioned how much I love you guys?" asked Elias through a mouthful of fish. It was her second day in the hospital, she would be discharged the next morning, just in time for her second match. Hopefully, she didn't get too beat up this time around. "We were all worrying about you after that." Marshall said sternly from his place next to his son. "Didn't you realize you could have been killed?"

"Sorry, Tiyo."

"You don't look the least bit sorry." Forrest mumbled. "Probably because I'm not." the blue-eyed teen replied after she ripped through her third fish. Leo looked over at Steve and noticed that being the elder brother looked good on him. Elias had warmed up to him immediately and called him, "Kuya" after a few minutes of conversation. Right now, he had just supplied her with her third fish. She shook her head and went back to her food.

Brothers. Too bad she was an only child.

"And hey, we got you something." Paul Phoenix reached inside his shirt and handed her a tape, a huge grin plastered over his face. Elias looked at it doubtfully.

"I am not touching that." Paul's face fell slightly and Forrest punched his arm. He recovered immediately and laughed. "You won't let it out of your sight after you see it." He got up and slipped the tape into the VCR and pressed play. The screen flickered and showed the swamp arena from the first stage. "Hey, it's the footage from the hidden cameras!" chirped Xiao. Leo jumped.

"Where the hell did YOU come from?!" Xiao pointed a thumb towards an open window. The caver's head dropped in defeat. The video played the part where Bryan Fury threw Elias into the wall for the second time. The girl in question winced and Steve noticed.

"It must have hurt at the time, huh?" he asked her. Her face was twisted with disgust. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"My face, Kuya. Dear God, I look like a pug." The teen felt the bed get heavier on one side and noticed another girl contentedly eating some cup noodles lying next to her. "Not really. More like a Shitzu. Or a Pomeranian."

"Asuka, you bitch. I was thinking you wouldn't make it." Elias said while taking a bite of the noodles.

"And miss out on the food? No way." Asuka replied, closing her jaws around a large piece of fish. Soon, everyone was watching Leo battle it out with Anna Williams on screen. "Nice uppercut." commented Elias after Leo fiercely punched the brunette upside the head. The caver mumbled a thank-you through a glass of water. "We all know the reason for that." laughed Asuka. Leo glared daggers at her, but she stuck her tongue out at her. "Why?" asked Forrest.

"She wants to get in good with someone's mother." Xiao moved her eyes over at Steve. Leo leapt up from her seat on the window ledge. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK CHINGLINESE!"

"MAKE ME, CAVE GIRL!" Steve was about to stop them, but Elias held him back.

"Twenty on Leo, Kuya." she said, waving a bill in his face as the two fighters rolled around on the floor exchanging colorful insults.  
~

Later that night, Steve sat in the dark on an armchair in Elias' hospital room keeping watch. Leo took the opportunity to sleep next to Elias since the sofa was too short for her. The boxer sighed. The moon shone through the window A hiss sounded in the room and he was instantly alert.

"Kuya?" The teen whispered in a raspy voice. "Kuya are you awake?" Steve got up and carried the armchair around to where Elias was lying awake. "Yeah, I'm awake." he said. "Want some water or something?" She shook her head and he put the glass back down on the side table. "I have to ask a favor from you, Kuya."

"I can get you another fish tomorrow after you get discharged." The girl chuckled softly. "I'd like that, but that wasn't the favor." Her eyes were serious, not like they were a while ago when they were joking around over the food.

"What is it?" The teen looked over at Leo sleeping next to her and pulled some of the blanket over her. "I need you to keep an eye on her."

"On Leo? She can handle herself, Elias, you know that." Elias shook her head. "That's not what I meant." She sighed and looked at the moon. "Kuya, I'm going to get myself in a heap of trouble soon. Leo cares about me too much, that's why I need you to keep an eye on her." Steve opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her injured hand. "She can take care of herself, I'm sure of that, but once I do what I'm going to do, I need you to hold her back. So she won't follow me." Steve stared in wonder at her. This one girl was asking him to watch over a girl she herself had only known for a few weeks.

"Why?" He knew he would look after Leo. He wouldn't need a reason for that. What he needed was the reason why Elias wanted him to look after her. The girl smiled peacefully in the moonlight. The caver's forehead creased and Elias smoothed it out.

"Because she's my sister."

Steve studied her. Her face was completely different. A typical Filipino. Except for those eyes that glowed the same shade of blue as Leo's. She returned his gaze. "Should I explain?" He nodded.

"Fine. But not a word to Leo."

The next day, Elias left the hospital with Steve and Leo. The caver hadn't the slightest notion of what the teen had told him the night before.  
~

"You haven't reported in a while." Lars remarked to the figure standing on his balcony. "Let's say I took a sick leave for a while, sir." it replied. Lars nodded. He knew better by now to question the shade. "So, what news, my friend?" The shade stepped onto the rail of his balcony and balanced there.

"Kazuya Mishima has relocated his base."

"You can't find him?" The shade cocked its head. "You doubt my ability?" Its metallic voice was tinged with anger now.

"Of course not. What do you have in mind?" Lars replied coolly. The shade spoke, its voice once again devoid of emotion. "I can get inside. But I will need Nina." Lars raised an eyebrow. "Nina?" The shade nodded. He only considered it for a moment.

"Done. When do you plan to move?"

"The day after the second stage of the Iron Fist Tournament." It made a low bow. "Good night, sir." The shade stepped back off the railing. Lars hastened to the edge and looked down. There was no sign of the shade.  
~

"Are you sure you can fight so soon?" Leo asked Elias. The two sat with their friends on one side of the newly-refurbished arena. The setting was the temple now. Leo liked battling at the temple. Through the flurry of fists and feet flying at her face, the temple gave her a sense of peace. She and Xiao each sported several bruises, and Paul won forty dollars after their brawl ended in a draw.

Oh, best friends. Who would expect anything less?

"Get ready for the next battle!" the robotic voice announced over the speakers. Everyone in the arena turned towards the screen.

"Leo Kliesen versus..." Leo ran down the aisle and vaulted over the temple gates. "Christie Monteiro!"

"Ohoho, bitch fight." Xiao said gleefully. Elias turned to her. "Why? What's with Christie?"

"She was my ex." said Steve. The teen's eyes glanced between the caver and the beach girl. Christie Monteiro seemed alright at a glance.

Until she turned around and displayed that tramp stamp.

"You dated HER?" she asked incredulously. Steve shrugged and his friends laughed behind him.  
~

"Ready... FIGHT!" Christie hopped around on her feet. Leo stood her ground. "Heard you're shacking it up with Steve now." A fist jabbed. "I didn't know you were a girl." Leo intercepted the fist and shoved it back into her face. She was used to being called a guy; hell, it didn't even count as an insult for her anymore. Christie's head bounced back and they circled each other. "For the record, we did not shack up." The caver dodged a foot and stepped on it. Christie winced.

"God, I just stepped on your toe."

"You broke a nail." replied Christie venomously. Leo shrugged. Before her shoulders came down she found herself staring at the sky. Christie danced away as she got back on her feet. "Was that ballet?" Leo asked, hoping to rile the Brazilian's temper.

She was wildly successful.

"IT'S NOT BALLET-" Leo deftly caught her foot and twisted her around, spiraling under her jab and knocking her back into a wall with her elbow.

"I know, I know. It's capoeira."  
~

Forrest watched as Christie went into bitch mode with just one sentence. "Bro," he tapped Steve's shoulder. "I still can't believe how you fell for her." Steve watched as Leo happily kicked the beach girl in the face.

"I know man. It's weird."  
~

Christie's feet came down heavily on her shoulders, slamming her into the ground. Leo moved in for a throw, but the Brazilian brought her legs around her rival's neck and sent her crashing back into the earth. Leo rose, a seething fireball of extremely pissed off German caver. Christie saw it and backed away.

"Your feet came down harder than usual, Monteiro." she commented. Christie circled her, those feet of hers never standing still.

"Yeah, so?" Leo shook her head and walked around with her hands in her pockets. "I wasn't so good at physics while I was in high school, but I learned that force is directly proportional to mass multiplied by acceleration. There are several formulas relating to that, and though they're really fun to derive, unless you've got a decent calculator, the teachers are going to eat you alive." She stopped in front of the post holding up the temple and made a note of how her sentences rhymed.

The Brazilian was getting itchy. "Again, so?" Leo sighed and looked her straight in the eye.

"It means you're getting fat."

Christie's eyes widened for a split second before she charged at the laughing caver. "KLIESEN YOU FUCKING BITCH I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE!" In her rage, she jumped for Leo feet first. Just at the last minute, Leo calmly walked away and left Christie with one foot stuck in the post. She grabbed hold of her hair and spoke with devastating punches accentuating her every word.

"You...are...so..." She pulled the dancer out of the post and swung her overhead into the ground. "HIGH MAINTENANCE!" She lay on her back a moment while Christie got up. Her foot was bleeding terribly, and Leo felt a bit guilty.

Just a bit.

After that little stunt, Christie's attacks rained down on her harder than ever, but only in brief bursts of energy. "What, getting tired?" asked Leo good-naturedly as her enemy slumped against a tree. She didn't know if she meant to do it or not, but that pose was very, very suggestive. She mumbled something to herself. "What was that, Monteiro?" called Leo. "I don't think I caught the compliment-"

"I SAID YOUR MOTHER WAS A WHORE!"  
~

The shout echoed through the whole arena. "Here we go." muttered Paul as he hid behind a seat. Marshall buried his face in his palm.

"OH HELL NO. HOLD MY BABY!" screamed Elias in fury as she shoved her bolo at the person nearest to her, which was Asuka. Steve managed to catch up to the angry teen at the aisle and drag her back to her seat. "LEMME GO!"

"This isn't a tag team, Leo-"

"I SAID LET ME GO!"

"DAMMIT!" Steve's grip nearly crushed her ribcage. "I'll tell Leo." he whispered in her ear, his voice low and threatening. Elias peered up at him, then squirmed out of his arms and sat quietly in her seat next to Asuka, still seething.

Asuka didn't dare give her the bolo back.  
~

"What did you just say?" Leo was the very picture of rage now, her blue eyes cold and steely. Christie grinned, apparently not realizing the predicament she was in. "Your mother was a whore! A FUCKING-"

"FINISH THAT SENTENCE." The caver screamed, her voice rising an octave above usual. "DO IT. I DARE YOU. I DOUBLE DARE YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!" Christie stood up and took a step towards her. "Your mother." Another step. "Was." Another step. Leo's blonde bangs covered her eyes.

"A." Another step. Leo didn't move.

"Fucking." Another. A fist clenched.

"WHORE!" Christie's feet flew at the caver's ankles trying to literally 'sweep her off her feet'. They didn't budge. She tried kicking her in the face. Leo grasped the offending foot and twisted it. The Brazilian yelped and brought around her other foot. She said nothing and twisted it. Christie cried out in pain and stumbled back. She could take pain, and killed time dodging the furious German's fists.

"Why can't you HOLD STILL?!"

Her ankles burned, and a lucky punch sent her sailing against a wall. Through the pain she just barely managed to register two arms wrapping around her in a grotesque hug.

"Say hello to your chiropractor for me." She felt herself fly through the air, and heard the crack of her ribs as they the post. Leo set upon her like a storm, hands, elbows and feet crushing the necessary bones that would leave her alive but in constant pain. Finally, the caver had mercy on her and finished her with a bitchslap so hard that the whole arena heard her jaw crack. Even Nina winced.

"No pattern, no form." said Leo as Christie slumped to the ground.

She left without another word.  
~

Nina quickly and efficiently took care of the guard in front of the secret entrance. "You couldn't get past him?" she asked the shade, one high-heeled foot planted on the dead man's chest. The shade shrugged. "My hand." Nina glanced at the its right hand. Strips of gauze wrapped around it, fresh blood making a stain on the back. "I'll handle it from here." it went on, entering the base. Nina watched it go and debated whether to return to Lars' side or to follow the shade.

Acting on her better nature, she hastened into the hallway after it, but not before dragging the corpse into the shrubbery.  
~

*rises from the bed* Oh, the aching pains girls have to go through every month. Because of that, I'm afraid this chapter's not exactly as it should be. I had a different idea for the fight scene, but I kinda got interrupted. But enough about me. How was Christmas? Hope you guys had fun. And hey, let's do something together on New Year's Eve. I don't know if any other kids around the world do it, but here, right on the stroke of New Year, all the younger and shorter kids jump in the air as high as they can go.

But not me. I've done that for years and it hasn't helped.

So this year, I'm jumping on a trampoline. Like a boss.

You know what it is. Read if you want, review if you like... flames will be put out with a fire extinguisher. Advanced Happy New Year~ XD


	9. He calls her 'love'

In the darkness, the assassin followed the shade, moving deeper into the heart of enemy territory. She made sure to watch the shade carefully. The assassin felt a presence behind her and turned to put it out of its misery. Something whistled past her, followed by the dull thud of a body. Nina turned to see a guard lying on the ground, a blood pool already starting to form around his neck.

"You followed." It was said quietly and with satisfaction, as if the shade knew she would come. "Lars said you asked for my help. I intend to do my job." The shade laughed. Gone was the metallic quality of its voice; it sounded more... human.

"He's a good man, Sir Lars." The metal was present in its voice again. "Not as good as you'd expect, given the circumstances, but he'll pass." Together they hauled the body into a broom closet and set off down the hall. "I know that." replied Nina. The shade stopped and jerked its head at the harmless-looking path before them. Nina nodded and threw a smoke bomb into its midst. Infrared lines immediately made an appearance.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at it. The shade was slicing through the metal wall as if it were butter. "Those are what I call one-way sensors." the shade explained, picking up the metal sheets. They were big enough to cover both of them. "The beams come from a laser that is aimed to fire at an exact spot. But when the laser is blocked..." The shade held the metal on one side and passed in front of the infrared.

"It's completely useless." it continued, handing her the other sheet. Nina sidled up to the shade and proceeded down the hall. "Where does this hall lead?" she asked. Something didn't feel right. Kazuya's security wasn't as tight as she had expected. No other guards were present except for the one at the entrance and the one the shade killed.

"To the control room." the shade replied as they came to a very ordinary-looking door. Nina pulled a hairpin out of her ponytail and reached for the lock when the shade stopped her. "I tried that the last time. I nearly got caught."

"Then how do we get in?"

"Hold on to me." Nina was a bit taken aback at the strange request, nevertheless she clung on to it. The shade turned around and slowly walked backward into the door. Soon she felt a hard suction trying to pull them apart, but the shade was strong and held her in a vice-grip that she felt sure would leave a mark. They emerged in a pristine white room that held a solitary computer.

"What was that?" asked Nina after the shade let her go. "A phase door. If two people go through it at the same time they will be pulled to random parts of the base. New technology developed by Kazuya's scientists." It sauntered to the computer. "If we had let go of each other, you might have ended up in Kazuya's rooms and I would have no way of finding you." It sat down and began to type at breakneck speed.

"You're not responsible for me."

"No, I am not. But my code of honor states that since I asked Lars to let me borrow your services, I am entitled to take care of you, since he sent you with me in good faith."

"That doesn't mean you have to look after me. I am older than you after all." The keys clicked softly against the keyboard. "I know that," said the shade matter-of-factly. "You're physically around twenty to thirty years old-"

"Twenty-five."

"-twenty-five, but chronologically you're around." the shade counted on its fingers. "Forty-two or forty-four, due to the cryo-sleep."

"Is there anything you DON'T know?" Nina asked. This shade knew more than it was supposed to. Her true age and the fact that she had been put under cryo-sleep was strictly classified information. Like Lars, she knew better by now than to question the shade's ability. "I don't know what your favorite drink is." it replied, hitting a few more keys.

"Scotch."

"Not bad." The shade finished its work. A metal box rose out of the floor. "Is that..."

"No, Miss Nina. It's not." And it wasn't Pandora's box. It was just a metal box. The shade produced a blade and pried the top off. Nina held her gun at the ready. "Hurry with that." she told the shade. She could feel something coming. Meanwhile, the shade replaced a particular chip on the circuit board with one of its own, and rewired the hardware. "Done, let's-" A man loomed in the entry way, and for the first time in a very long time, Nina Williams was caught off-guard.

"Jin?"  
~

After Leo's victory against Christie Monteiro, Steve showed up at her apartment in the pouring rain. "Leo?" He knocked thrice, no answer. "Leo, it's me." The door opened a crack and he went in. Leo was sitting at the window ledge gazing at a picture of her mother. "How did you do against Lily?" she asked, not looking at him. "It was alright. She put up a good fight, for your sake." Leo looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"She said she wouldn't be your rival anymore after you beat Christie to a pulp. But she's open to sparring, if you'd like." Leo grunted and went back to gazing at her mother. The rain trickled down the glass. Steve stayed silent when Leo leaned on him a bit. "She wasn't a whore." she said quietly. Steve could feel her shaking.

"No, she wasn't." Leo snuggled into him more and he gave her a hug. "Move over." he told her. She balanced on her heels and palms as he slid the rest of himself under her. "So," he asked when she settled back down. "How long do we get to hug?"

"Oh, I don't know." the caver yawned. Steve shrugged and hugged her a little tighter. "You know, Elias was about to rush in to help you beat Christie." Leo looked up at him.

"She was?" The Englishman nodded. "She even put her sword down for you."

"Huh." said Leo, absently noting how warm the boxer was. "She looks out for you a lot, Leo." he told her. She nodded and put her head back on his chest. "Much like this guy I know." She felt him tense up.

"What guy?" She had to stifle a laugh. Jealousy is cute on guys when they're not overdoing it. "Oh, you know him. He's tall and has a sexy accent."

Silence.

"Miguel Rojo?" Leo laughed and the boxer looked confused.

"God, you're dense."

"Oh wait...me? Is it me?" She shrugged and burrowed into his arms. "I have a sexy accent?"

"Shut up and hug me, ya crazy Brit."

"Just hug you?" A thrill started in the caver's spine. "Couldn't you be a bit more specific?" Steve's voice dropped half an octave and she found it irresistibly sexy.

"Fine. Shut up and hug me tight, I'm getting cold." His arms snaked around her waist and chest. He could feel her heart racing by now. "I don't think you want me to shut up." he murmured. Leo bit her lip when she felt his breath on the back of her neck. "What's wrong?" Steve asked, planting a small kiss where her nape connected to her back. "I want to hear you." He lightly traced the contours of her body with his finger.

"Won't you say something, Leo?"

She didn't want to say anything. Leo's subconscious ordered her to jump the tall, blonde Brit with the sexy accent right then and there, but she tapped all the pools of self-control left in her system and managed to reply with, "What do you want to hear, exactly?" Her voice came out huskier than she intended, but the man toying with the buckles of her shirt didn't seem to mind.

"Hmm." Her scarf slid away between his fingers leaving a trail of goosebumps along her skin. "I don't really know." Gentle licks started near her ear then trailed down to her collarbone. Steve sucked gently on her neck, eliciting a gasp. "So it's here, isn't it?" He grinned and sucked harder. It earned him a moan this time. "Satisfied?" Leo asked. It was obvious she couldn't manage a sentence with more than one or two words. "Not quite." said Steve as he unbuckled her shirt to reveal a simple black tank top underneath. "Don't you ever get hot with all these clothes on?" he whispered, moving a hand to separate the shirt from the tank top. Leo wanted to reply that she never got hot with the clothes on, not ever.

At least, not until now.

"Turn around, won't you?" She rose and complied, and was immediately pressed against the opposite wall, Steve kissing her furiously in contrast to the way his hands were traipsing around her back and torso. Her hands found their way to his back and clawed at it. It thundered once, but they weren't paying any attention. She felt something gently slide over chest. A glimpse downward showed her tank top riding up her body, followed by Steve's hand. "Black sports bra," said Steve approvingly before sucking on her neck again.

"I'm not that daring, Steven." she whispered. "Waltzing around braless isn't my thing." His hand seemed to burn as it crept up her stomach. "I know it isn't." he replied. "What I didn't expect were these." The bra rode up her chest to join her tank top. Steve stopped. Leo's breasts were... definitely not what he expected. An estimate hovered between B and C. He shrugged it off. Who cared how big they were anyway? He didn't plan on telling the world. This was just one of those things in life that you didn't share with anyone. They moved up and down in time with her breathing, shivering a bit when he drew his finger over her skin. "...d...dammit..." He looked up at her.

"Sorry. Do I stop?" His voice was back to normal now. Leo stared at him a minute then shoved him into the wall behind them. Her hand was shaking as it crept through his shirt but her voice was seductive when she whispered, "If you stop, I won't continue." He sucked air through his teeth when he felt his pants zipper open and release his hard-on. Leo's hand shook violently when she palmed it. Stroking the tip gently, she saw Steve shut his eyes. She stopped and Steve opened them again.

"Equivalent exchange, sir knight." When they kissed, it was sweeter, not as hungry or fierce as their previous ones. Leo felt something toying with her pants. "H-hey, w-what're you-" A kiss silenced her. "I don't believe in equivalent exchange when it comes to matters like these, Leo." His fingers touched her through her panties and she barely managed to bite back a moan.

"Do you know how cute you are?" Steve asked her as his fingers pushed aside the fabric to gain better access. A thumb circled a nipple and the caver clawed desperately at his back, not forgetting to pay attention to his own needs. "Cute? Is that all I am?" she asked indignantly. He sucked on her neck and felt around some more, ignoring the question. Leo moaned. "Here it is." he whispered while applying pressure.

"...sh...shit..." she gasped, stroking him faster. Steve gritted his teeth, not letting up on her sensitivity. "Can't take it anymore, love?" He made a note of how she was melting in his arms.

He had never called any girl 'love' before.

Especially not his ex.

"You're one to talk." Leo murmured. True enough, he couldn't hold it in for very long anymore either. "I guess." Steve replied. He slowly circled his fingers around her, satisfied with the moans she was trying to hold in. "But you're going first."

One kiss, and they were gone. The rain went on.

"Huh." said the German.

"Huh?" asked the Brit.

"Huh." sighed Leo contentedly as she slumped on Steve's chest, not bothering to fix her clothes. "Huh." replied Steve. A mutual agreement was formed in the space of those few seconds. Sometimes a single word can mean so much more than it's supposed to; right now was such a case.

"I can sleep on the couch." he murmured while stroking her hair. She yawned and got up, fixing her pants and shrugging off her jacket and shirt. He took the time to put his length back in his pants. Leo kicked her shoes off and held a hand out to him. Steve glanced at the couch.

"Forget the couch, you're sleeping next to me tonight, sir knight." she told him.

"How do I know you won't take me in my sleep, love?"

"You're just going to have to trust me." He had gotten up and swooped her into his arms before she could finish her sentence, carrying her into her room.

The rain stopped after a while and the stars came out.  
~

Ahaha, four more days until school rolls around again. =_= I think I must have forgotten everything by now. I present to thee my first lemon. You may flame it as much as you want this time, I won't mind. XD

Remember, we're jumping together on New Year's Eve! Who knows, maybe we'll all grow another inch or so. :)))

Read if you want and review if you like. Ja ne~  
/hecallsherlove


	10. Striped Pantsu

Jin was silent. He stared down at the assassin, eyes devoid of any emotion. A patch of skin on his neck seemed to glow bright red.

"Miss Nina, run!" The shade leaped over her head and kicked the man to the side. Though taken by surprise, Jin's face was impassive, as if the blow meant nothing. "His neck..." Nina whispered. Jin stood and barreled toward her. The world seemed to slow down and blur, Jin's fist only registering in Nina's mind when it collided with the shade's head. The shade stood firm in front of her, a cool green eye framed by a lock of black hair piercing through the man before them.

"Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Nina." Its voice was metal and robotic, but Nina could feel the anger dripping from its words. Jin charged forward, brandishing a katana. The shade evaded the cuts, ducking and swerving between each stroke. "Run!" The assassin ignored the shade's command and moved in to slam an elbow into the Mishima with the devil gene. It knocked him back into a wall and Nina pulled the shade up. The two made for the door, clinging to each other through the suction. Once through, they made their way out of base. Nina heard something and looked back, but the shade pulled her away, ignoring the infrared beams that blocked their path.

She didn't know if it was her imagination or if the shade heard it too, but a voice seemed to call her from past the phase door. Nina snapped out of it and kicked aside a guard who appeared to stop their flight. Her brows creased in thought.

Regardless of what she heard, she would not, will not, drop her guard like that again.  
~

"Alright bitch, you owe us an explanation." The caver sat with Xiao and Asuka in her apartment. Asuka nodded and Leo sighed. She had told Steve to leave before dawn, knowing that her two best friends would make an appearance at first light. "Well, where do you want me to start?" she asked them.

"Details." said Xiao.

"About last night." put in Asuka. Leo stared into her coffee for a moment before she began. "Second base. He was very sweet."

"We know that." Leo looked up in surprise. "How could you know that?!" Asuka shrugged and answered. "We planted a mic in your couch." The caver jumped up and nearly ripped the sofa apart looking for the mic. Xiao thumped the female Mishima lightly behind the head. "That wasn't a mic, that was her birthday present." Asuka thought for a moment, then shrugged again before taking a sip of Leo's coffee.

"Don't you dare, Mishima, I didn't put any sugar in that!"Leo yelled from the couch. Xiao snickered while the girl choked on the bitterness and ran to the bathroom. "Alright," muttered the German as she put the couch back together. "Where'd you plant the damn thing?" The Chinese girl kept snickering.

"In your pants." sputtered Asuka from the bathroom. Leo went through her pockets and dumped out the contents. It didn't seem like anything special, just some loose change, her phone, earphones, and a small Ziplock bag with a few screws in it. Xiao stopped laughing for a moment and pointed at the phone. "No..." Leo sat down and pressed a button. "Oh God no."

"Sorry. We were worrying about you after you stomped out of the arena." said Xiao, looking far from sorry. "It was when you called wasn't it?" she asked as she slumped across the table. Xiao nodded as Asuka came out of the bathroom. "Not our fault you left it on though." Asuka went on.

"YOU COULD HAVE YELLED THROUGH THE PHONE LINES!" the caver screamed.

"YOU DIDN'T SOUND LIKE YOU WANTED US TO SCREAM THROUGH THE PHONE LINES!" The female Mishima yelled back.

"OKAY MAYBE I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SCREAM THROUGH THE PHONE LINES!"

"TRUST ME, WE WERE KEEPING VERY QUIET ON THE OTHER LINE!" shrieked Xiao.

"UNLIKE NOW?"

"YEAH."

"I LOVE YOU GUYS."

"WE LOVE YOU TOO." The three laughed and quieted down. "How much did you hear anyway?" The two fighters looked at each other. "Come on, I won't be mad." Leo prodded Asuka's arm. The latter coughed and vocalized a moment. The caver facepalmed. "Wait I get to be Leo." Xiao poked Asuka with her elbow.

"Oh God." The two began.

"I want to hear you." murmured Asuka in a terrible rendition of Steve's English accent. Leo put her hands over her mouth and smothered a laugh.

"What exactly do you want to hear?"

"Hey, my voice isn't that high!" the caver gasped between bursts of laughter. "Well, I'm sorry, Cave Girl, would you rather hear how you moan?" retorted Xiao.

"I did not moan."

"Then what were you doing? Gasping for air like a fucking fish?" laughed Asuka.

"God no!"

"Then what?"

"I was mimicking Xiao." The Chinese girl snapped to attention. "What do you mean, 'mimicking me'?"

"Oh, I get it." said Asuka. "Yeah, you remember it right?" replied Leo. "Yeah I do." The two exchanged a high five. "Alright, what the actual fuck am I missing here?" asked Xiao, temper rising.

"Oh nothing." said Leo. "Leo and I were just talking about that time we caught you in your apartment. How did it go again?" asked Asuka.

"I don't really remember, Asuka, but I think she was holding Jin's picture and going all-"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE KLIESEN!"

"'-agh, agh, AAAAAAAAAGH!' Something like that, you were unbelievably loud, Chinglinese."

"I WILL BURY YOU IN ONE OF YOUR CAVES YOU BITCH!"

"No, Leo, they were short, moan-y breaths. You know, '...ha...haa...'"

"ALRIGHT BITCHES IT IS ON NOW." An enraged Chinese girl with pigtails leaped across the table at them. "DON'T DENY IT PIGTAILS WE BOTH KNOW YOU WERE ENJOYING YOURSELF!" Leo screamed as they grappled on the floor.

"QUIT IT!" Asuka pulled Xiao away to let Leo get up. "YOU DIDN'T SEEM TO WANT TO QUIT IT WHEN WE FOUND YOU-"

"SHADDAP, STRIPED PANTSU!" Well, that escalated quickly. The three who had once been quietly sipping coffee were now rolling around on the floor either pulling at each other's hair and clothes or rolling over each other to land a better hit.

"CAVE GIRL!"

"CHINGLINESE!"

"FLAT-CHESTED!"

"ASU-CHINPO!"

A very girly shriek sounded through the apartment. Xiao got up triumphantly.

"I GOT HER STRIPED PANTSUUU!"

"Excuse me, Leo, are you h-" Marshall Law stopped in the doorway to see Asuka lying on Leo in a very compromising position, the former grabbing on to Xiaoyu's leg with the Xiao waving around a pair of blue-striped panties. "What's wrong Marsh, she okay in-" Paul Phoenix poked his head in and saw the scene. "Panties?" he asked hopefully, nose bleeding at the sight of the girls in their compromising positions.  
~

A few minutes later, Marshall Law was preparing to leave. "So it's a pair battle tomorrow?" asked Xiao. The elder Law nodded. "The day after tomorrow. You had better get some rest."

"We're sorry about your partner, Marshall." Asuka said. Leo nodded in agreement. Marshall dismissed the subject with a wave. "He'll be alright, I'll just pour a bottle of Scotch down his throat before the match if he's not up by tomorrow." He got up and left, dragging an unconscious Paul behind him. The door closed after them. All three girls looked at each other.

"He had it coming to him when he tried to sniff them." muttered Asuka. The caver and the Chinese girl nodded in agreement.  
~

Feeling a bit guilty about her moment of weakness, Nina accompanied the shade back to where it lived. They slipped through the window. "Can I offer you a drink?" the shade asked.

"You're too young to have Scotch." The shade looked back at the assassin as she stood at the window, pale moonlight outlining her form. "You-"

"Yes, I know it's you." Nina returned the shade's gaze. "Drop the act, I won't tell anyone."

"Huh." The metal was gone from its voice. "That moment with Jin, I didn't expect that." Nina said nothing. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Lars asked me that once, I nearly killed him."

"I'm not Lars." Nina cocked her head at it. "But it's alright if you can't tell me, I'll just wait for-"

"I loved him once. A long time ago." A light breeze swept through the room. The shade pulled out a bottle from a cabinet and two glasses. Nina sat down at the table. "I don't have any Scotch, sorry." It poured some into the glasses and slid one gently across the table to Nina. The assassin took it and drank, then held it out for another. "You'll be okay going home, won't you?" the shade asked, one green eye clouding with concern.

"Probably not."

"That's alright. You can stay here." Nina downed her drink. "You can take off that contact you know." The shade raised its exposed eyebrow. "It's just you and me here." The shade conceded and pulled the contact out of its eye. "That's better." Nina smiled and filled the shade's glass. It gulped it down straight, Nina making a note of how someone so young could swallow something that strong down in one go.

"So, it was a long time ago."

"Yeah. I didn't say a word. Then he got into that fight with Jinpachi and disappeared, and I left to work for Lars." The shade was silent as it filled her glass again. "Time went by, and I thought I forgot about him."

"But you didn't. It's obvious."

"How old are you really?" The shade laughed and a small smile lit up Nina's face. "Sixteen, going on seventeen."

"I knew you were a smart kid."

"Thank you. Crap, I'm out." The shade shook the bottle. It peered in at the dregs, and emptied the contents into Nina's glass. Nina downed it. "I don't have a couch, so..."

"I'm sleeping on the left." The shade nodded. It swallowed the contents of its glass as Nina shrugged off the body suit that covered a simple shirt and shorts. It was something she learned as a younger hitman: you must always have something under the body suit. The shade turned off its cloaking device and revealed its true form. "I don't tell anyone about what happened tonight, and neither do you. Deal?"

"Deal. Now get in here." The two occupied the bed now, moonlight still streaming through the window. "Are we going to talk more tomorrow?" Nina nodded. "Huh. Night, Nina."

"Night." Soon, her eyes were studying her bed partner's sleeping features, and for the first time since finding out Steve was her son, Nina Williams asked herself...

Is this what being a mother feels like?  
~

Ahahahaha, I'm baaaaack~ I'm trying to leave something for you guys to mess with because school's starting on the 3rd here and I'm going to face off against... trigonometry. =_=

They could have saved themselves the trouble and asked us to come back on the 7th, but nooo, they want us back on the 3rd. I don't know if that means that they missed us or just want us to suffer the pain of 8 hours of school. =_=

Sometimes I wonder if you guys guessed who the shade is. lol. Leo's not the only one with a love life apparently. XD

Read if like, review if you want to. Flames will be used for barbecue. Ja ne~


	11. Matchmaking

Elias woke to the smell of meat cooking. "Morning." muttered Nina over her shoulder. Soft yellow light streamed in through the window. The teenager ran a hand through her bedhead to restore it to something that looked at least halfway decent. "I didn't know you cooked."

"I have to eat somehow. Take out gets expensive you know." Elias got up and walked to the bathroom to wash up. Drinking with Nina last night had an effect on her looks. Blue eyes didn't look good when bloodshot, and that fuzzy thing that tasted like cotton in her mouth was actually her tongue. She brushed hurriedly and washed her face. "Nice eyes." said Nina from the table when she came out of the bathroom. Elias sat down to a plate of eggs and bacon. "Thanks for the food." she said while wolfing down her bacon. The assassin waved her hand and dumped some more bacon on the younger girl's plate.

"Don't you ever eat?" Nina asked after watching her finish the eggs in record time. She shoveled more onto her plate. Surprisingly, feeding someone hadn't ever felt this satisfying.

"'course."

"When was the last time?"

"Yesterday."

"What did you eat?"

"Some of that green stuff in the back of the fridge." Nina grimaced. She found that green stuff earlier that morning. It used to be a salad. It stank like hell, so she dumped it down the garbage chute. "You do know that stuff was spoiled right?" The blue-eyed teen stopped mid-bite, wide-eyed. "It was?"

Nina laughed. "You managed to hack into Kazuya's systems, rewire his hardware and beat Bryan Fury to a pulp and you can't even tell if the food's spoiled or not?" Elias flashed a toothy smile.

Huh. Being a mom was a bit more fun than she expected.  
~

Noon found the assassin and the bolo-wielder lounging on the bed in their underwear. "You said you'd tell me more." Elias prodded the older woman with a finger. "Give me a minute, I'm remembering. The heat's killing me." Nina rested her neck against the ice pack. "Alright, you already know about how they hired me to assassinate Jin." The teen nodded.

"I nearly died, but he saved me. Don't grin at me like that." she muttered, holding a short blade she pulled out of nowhere against Elias' neck. The teen's grin only spread wider. "Do it, I dare you." Nina looked down to see a similar blade poised near her chest. "Well played."

"Thank you." The two released their blades and the assassin continued. "After that I became his bodyguard. There were a lot of attempts on his life, but nothing I couldn't handle. I don't know how he was around other people, but around me Jin seemed different. He was kind of like you, he couldn't tell whether the food was spoiled or not either."

"He was also very sweet." Someone grinned again, blades were raised and dropped in a matter of seconds. "How was he sweet? Are you implying that I'm sweet?" Elias asked.

"See those guns?" Nina ignored the last question and flicked her head in the direction of her bodysuit which was now draped across a chair, two guns with ivory handles in their holsters. "Beretta 92FSs. Customized Beretta 92FSs."

"Jin gave me those." The ceiling fan stopped whirring. Elias reached over to the nightstand and opened a drawer to get a wrench. She chucked the wrench at the fan, and it whirred back to life. "Sorry, it gets fussy every now and then. You were saying?"

"Those Berettas were a gift for my birthday. He was in Thailand then, insisted on not letting me come. I booked a flight the day after he left of course, but he managed to hide them until then."

"Huh. Some Jin."

"He was a good person. It just didn't show."

"Like Lars?" Nina shrugged, but Elias was sure her cheeks flushed pink for a split-second.

"Yeah. When he fought Azazel and disappeared afterwards, I didn't feel anything and left to work for Lars. It only managed to sink in a month after. I missed him for a week."

"Just a week?" Nina shrugged and gulped down the rest of her water. "I can't afford to let feelings get in the way." Elias nodded in agreement.

Silence.

"I'm hungry." The assassin stifled a laugh and reached for her phone. "I'll get Natsuki to bring over a pizza."

"Natsuki? Wait, you're feeding me again?" A pair of tanned arms wrapped around her and, unlike before when she would have gunned down anyone who tried to touch her without her consent, Nina let them stay where they were. "Thank youuu." crooned a very delighted Elias. "Alright, alright. Hello, Natsuki," she said to someone over the phone. "Bring over some pizzas, meatlover's, since I'm rooming with a carnivore for today. Oh and bring over some Scotch with a lot of ice. It's too damn hot." The doorbell rang, and Elias got up to answer it.

And immediately felt her ovaries explode.  
~

"Hi, you must be the carnivore Nina-sama was talking about." A tall boy with jet black hair and green eyes who looked not that much older than herself extended a hand. "I'm Natsuki Joel Alexandersson." Elias shook it. "Elias, carnivore." She mentally slapped herself for saying the last part. "Come in, it's hotter out in the hall than in here." Natsuki walked in and nodded at Nina, putting down the pizzas and tossing her a bottle of Scotch. "Wonderful service as usual, Natsuki." The boy smiled and offered Elias a piece of meat-lover's pizza. The teen accepted it with a thank-you and went back to sit next to Nina. The latter sensed something in the girl's actions and decided to act on instinct.

"Elias, this is Natsuki. He's my protege and an aspiring mechanic." She motioned for Natsuki to sit with them. Natsuki picked up the pizza box and a plastic cup filled with ice. "A mechanic, huh." squeaked Elias. "Yeah, I just mess around with cars and things, really." Natsuki replied.

"He's working on his own robot right now, and sometimes does repairs on Alisa." Nina continued, ignoring the pleading look on the boy's face. "He's also the other new challenger in the tournament besides you."

"You've done repairs on Alisa Bosconovitch?" Elias reached for another slice of pizza, completely ignoring the fact that she was talking to a potential rival. "What are the specs?"

"Since Doctor Bosconovitch had some really good funding, everything about her's high tech, from the circuitry to the metal they used for making her. Five degrees of freedom per hand."

"Doesn't her removable head ever get stuck? I played around with a robot that had one; most of the time its head got stuck when it tried to take it off."

"Yeah, she still has that problem every now and then, but I figured a way around it."

"You just oiled the joints every now and then didn't you?" Natsuki was very impressed. It wasn't often that you found a girl who knew machines in a society where Abercrombie and Filch could command an army. Nina sat there and watched the nerdiness between her protege and the blue-eyed bolo-wielder. She wasn't really one for matchmaking, but her first attempt seemed to be quite a success. The topic of discussion moved from robots and programs to something called Defense of the Ancients.

"...Helm of the Dominator doesn't stack with that! How do you even manage to win?"

"Skills, sir, skills."

"I'll play you anytime, you'll see it doesn't stack with Vlad's Aura."

"Natsuki, isn't it time that you left for that appointment you had with Lars? It's nearly two." The boy leapt up and bowed. "Yes, Nina-sama, I'll go now. Nice meeting you, Elias." Nina exchanged a look with her, and Elias got up to escort the mechanic out of her apartment.

"See you at the pair battle tomorrow?" Natsuki asked before he left. "Yeah, I'm the one with just one sword." The two laughed. "Bye, then." She turned to close the door. "Elias?" The door opened again. "What's your real name?" The girl breathed in and looked at the floor a moment.

"Eliana."

"See you tomorrow at the pair battle, Eliana." Nobody said her name like that before. Ever. "Yeah. See you." She watched him walk towards the elevator. He left, and she closed the door behind her. "Like what you see?" asked Nina smugly when Elias walked back into the room. Blades rose and dropped.

"I lote you, Nina."

"Lote? Why lote?"

"Because it's half love and half hate. I lote you." The assassin laughed as the teen buried her face in her side. "I lote you too."  
~

"Crap, I missed out." muttered Elias regretfully the next day at the arena. "Yeah Elia, you missed out on a lot of fun." Asuka replied. The four were sitting far away from Paul Phoenix on account of what he tried to do the day before yesterday. "Are her panties really-"

"SHADDAP ELIA." The three girls laughed at Asuka's outburst. "Hey Leo, Steve's looking at you." pointed Elias enthusiastically. The caver turned around and the others scooted away. "Guys!" Leo called after them, but they were to far away. What the hell, she thought, they'll be back later.

"Drink?"

"Oh, thanks." She accepted the cold Coke.

"STEVE!"

"Oh no, I'm Dragunov."

"Sorry!"

"You're being cute again, love." She heard fangirl screams from somewhere behind her and turned to look. Her friends and Forrest Law were doing a dance that looked like a weird version of Dancing Samurai. "Shut up, I'm not cute." Leo huffed while sipping her Coke.

"I recall you saying that two nights ago, only differently."

'Jump him, right now. DO IT!' her subconscious screamed at her. She gave it the mental finger. "Round One: Eddy Gordo and Christie Monteiro-" The two Brazilians stepped into the arena. The setting this time was the gambling hall of a Vegas casino, complete with roulette tables and abandoned crap games.

"-versus Elias and Natsuki Alexandersson!" Elias hastened down the aisle and vaulted over the railing into the arena. "Forgot your sword back there." a voice said. She turned to see Natsuki holding her bolo. "Thanks. I fight better with my baby around." The protege laughed. "Glad to be your partner, I barely know anyone here."

"Ready... FIGHT!"  
~

"OMIGOD HE'S HOT!" Asuka and Xiao were fangirling over Elias' partner. He heard them and waved, a huge smile on his face. The fangirl screams rose in volume. Leo looked him over. Cute, but not her type. Steve noticed. "I can dye my hair black if you want to." he said jokingly to the caver next to him. She shook her head and smiled. "Nope, you're fine the way you are right now." Steve smiled and sipped some of her Coke.

"Glad to hear it, love."  
~

Eddy struck first, sweeping a leg under Natsuki. He jumped and landed on his palms, spinning around like a top while the two girls stood and watched. The mechanic grabbed Eddy's leg and swung him over his shoulder into the ground. Meanwhile, Christie was engaging in hand to hand battle with Elias, a little bit more than a slapfight.

"Where'd you find your partner, sweetie?" Christie's voice was dripping with honey, her fists a blur. "I was introduced to him just yesterday." Elias replied, stopping one fist in mid-punch and sending it back into Christie's face with double the force. The impact popped the dancer's lip. "You fight just as dirty as Le-" Something that felt like a block of iron slammed into her stomach and sent her sailing past Eddy. The man in question looked at his flying dance partner for a split second before Natsuki sent him flying after her. Elias walked over to her partner and rested an arm on his shoulder.

"Leo fighting dirty?" She laughed and the smile that made Bryan Fury flinch made another appearance. "Lady, you don't know how I do."  
~

"She's definitely bragging about it, Asuka." Natsuki's two fangirls were watching the whole scene from the edge of their seats. "I know, Xiao, I know." A shriek resounded through the arena and everyone's heads turned in the direction of the sound. Leo laughed and Steve shook his head.

Elias' bolo was unsheathed. And Christie's ponytail was reduced to several curls dangling at the back of her neck.  
~

"YOU ABSOLUTE BITCH I WILL BURY YOU ALIVE!" Gyrating, twisting, writhing, incessantly writhing, Christie pushed Eddy out of the way and danced her way around Elias, the teen blocking her every strike. Natsuki picked up the bolo and yelled over the flurry of fists and feet, "Eliana, mind if I borrow your blade?"

"Don't scratch it too much!"

"Thanks!" Natsuki made his way over to the surprisingly silent Brazilian. "Nothing personal, just business." he told him. Eddy nodded and charged. Natsuki swung the bolo in a wide arc that sliced across Eddy's back. Ignoring the blood oozing from his back, Eddy swept his legs around, Nina's protege blocking every hit with the bolo.

"What did I tell you about scratching it?!" Natsuki shoved a boot in Eddy's face, knocking him into Christie. "My apologies, Eliana." he said, smiling.

God, she wouldn't have any ovaries left after this.  
~

Leo watched as a bleeding Eddy got up and performed an intricate capoeira dance that forced the duo into a corner. "You're worried about her again," Steve said. Elias picked up some poker chips and threw them at Eddy. As he lifted his arm to deflect them, her fists pummeled his stomach and her elbow knocked him into Christie. "Eddy! Get up and knock her out! I broke a nail!" The beach girl got up and everyone in the arena laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Nice ass, bitch." The rip in Christie's pants was big enough to show both sides of her ass to the world, divided by a g-string.

"EDDY!" The man in question rolled his eyes and charged at Elias. Elias was preparing for the hit when Natsuki stepped forward.

"A real man won't hurt a girl." A boot swung forward and Eddy ended up on the ground in fetal position. "A kick in the balls? Really?" Natsuki grinned. "She's all yours." Elias pulled on his hand.

"What? Want me to do it?"

"No, it's not that." Christie was backing away. "I thought we'd make our dancer friend here a bit more comfortable. Can you dance?"

"I can do a little bit of tango and cha-cha." Elias grinned evilly.

"Perfect."  
~

"Lucky bastard." muttered Forrest as Natsuki danced around with Elias, the two using a mix of tango and cha-cha to beat Christie to a pulp. Marshall patted his son's back. "Forrest, don't take this the wrong way..."

"What dad?"

"You won't be able to keep up with Elias. Trust me." said Paul in his blunt way. Forrest watched as Elias' foot made contact with Christie's nose before she twirled back into Natsuki's arms.

"No, I guess not."  
~

"Lucky bitch."

"I know." Asuka and Xiao were hovering at the edges of their seats watching the fight. Leo shook her head. The more she watched, the more she saw the possibility of a romance. Wait.

Christie tripped Natsuki.

But no. Elias managed to knock her out with a kick.

But wait.

"Hmm. Not a bad style." commented Steve. Leo laughed, and somewhere across the arena, Nina Williams smiled with satisfaction.  
~

The first kiss can happen at any time.

Mine was on the floor of a Vegas casino in the middle of the 7th King of Iron Fist Tournament.

It's true what they say sometimes. Time does stop during the first kiss, but only for a little while. Nothing else will register in your head, well at least nothing else registered in MY head at the time. Unfortunately for me, something else happened that brought out my inner tsundere.

His hands were on my tits. It was nice, really it was, but his hands were on my tits.

"AGH! GOMENASAI GOMENASAI GOMENASAI!" Is he actually bowing to me? God, he's going to inflate my ego. Is that Asuka having a bitch fit up there? "Wipe your nose, Natsuki." His nose was bleeding, I don't know whether it was because I fell on him or because he groped my tits. Wait, why do I even care?

"Come on, we won, let's go back."

"You're not mad?"

"Unless you plan on groping them again." He shook his head and handed me my baby. We pushed a slot machine against the wall and a roulette table against the slot machine. I climbed onto the slot machine and offered him my hand. "Come on, Tsuki-kun."

"Tsu-Tsuki-kun?" God, please, don't stutter. I just had my first kiss, so do me a favor, please don't stutter.

"Yeah. You owe me for molesting my tits." And dear God, don't just blush like that!

"Sorry." He grabbed my hand and pulled himself up. "After you." He helped me over the rail. "Nice fight." I said after pulling him up. "Yeah, nice fight."

The awkward silence couldn't be more awkward than this.

"I'll...uh...head back to Nina-sama now."

"Uh, yeah, sure, bye." I rushed back to where Leo and Steve were grinning at me.

Damn my tsundere-ness. Just dammit.  
~

And, there goes someone's lip virginity. And tit virginity. XD last chapter before I head back to school tomorrow. Maybe it's for the best, maybe I'll have an epic idea for the next chapter this weekend. *hears a question in the background* Yeah, the shade's Elias. Yes, Nina's starting to enjoy being a mom. No, Forrest has no chance with her. Sorry Forrest, but you really won't be able to keep up with her.

Oh, and Christie, I'm sorry about your hair, and Eddy, I'm sorry about your balls.

Read if you like, review if you want. Constructive criticism flames. Ja ne, I will miss you guys so much~ TT^TT


	12. Kazuya

Another heatwave. Sweat trickled down Elias' brow as she walked towards the phase door. After the incident with Jin the last time she infiltrated Kazuya's base with Nina, she decided against asking for help this time around. Though she said very little about her relationship with Jin, the blue-eyed teen knew Nina might have a little trouble if they encountered him again. She came to a door and felt in her pocket for the map she constructed of the base.

"Need this?" A hand with perfectly manicured nails gave her the paper. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Realization sank in. "NINA?!"

"Shh, you'll let everyone know we're here." Nina whispered and held a finger to the younger girl's lips. "B-but I-"

"No buts. I can't just let you come here with no back-up." Elias blew air through her teeth and clung to the assassin. "So are you admitting that you care about me?" she asked. Nina shrugged. "I can't afford to care about anyone in this business." Elias shook her head then stepped through the door with her.

"Sure you can't."  
~

They came out in a different area, dark halls with visible security cameras at every corner. "We'll have to steal some threads." Elias muttered. They lay in wait in the dark for a guard, but none came. The young bolo-wielder checked a small pager that hung from her belt. "Shit. He knows we're here." She cursed quietly in her mother tongue before handing Nina the pager. A small red dot glowed on-screen, but it wasn't what made her freeze.

The dot was Jin Kazama.

"When did you plant a sensor on him?" the assassin asked. "It was before when you last came with me." The dot stopped, then moved away from them. They released a breath they didn't know they were holding. "I expected a guard to come, but not Jin. My information said he was alive but missing." Nina knew it was true. Raven told her when he last infiltrated Mishima Zaibatsu. She was working for Lars at the time and knew that Raven only gathered intelligence; she had only to be careful about what she said around him. No use airing dirty laundry in public.

Elias continued, "The question is why Jin's working for Kazuya of all people." She handed Nina a cylinder and motioned for her to press the button on it. "Cloaking. You'll need it more than me if Kazuya gets a hold of us. He knows you personally, I'm just a teenager from Manila." They both knew what she meant by that. Nina would have a better chance of escaping alive than Elias; Nina worked for Lars Alexandersson and the Zaibatsu, she could leak Kazuya information. And Elias, well.

She was nobody.

The red dot started moving again, this time headed straight for them. "Can you do a Spider-man?" Elias asked.

"Obviously not." The younger girl shrugged and motioned for Nina to hang on to her back. Using modified gloves that had claws like a cat's, the two of them moved up the wall and onto the ceiling. It was one of many times that the assassin would wonder just what sort of things she went through to be able to carry a fully grown woman on her back and crawl across the ceiling at the same time. They moved down the hall, the dot moving closer to their location. Just after turning a corner and moving towards the fork in the path, footsteps echoed from their right side. Elias started to scramble away, but decided against it.

Jin Kazama was directly below them now. After spending half a day customizing the cloaking devices, Elias was sure that Jin wouldn't be able to see them in the dim light if he looked up. Nina felt a rush of air at her side and glanced in its direction. The bolo had swung down and missed the point of Jin's hairdo by a centimeter. She felt Elias tense under her. The man with the devil gene turned around, revealing the little patch of skin on his neck that glowed bright red. He walked away. Nina pulled the bolo up and locked it between her thigh and the girl's.

Five seconds passed. "Can you still see him?" whispered Elias. Nina nodded, then whispered that they could follow. They scuttled down the hall Jin passed through, past armed guards and evil-faced Dobermans.  
~

"Were they there?" Kazuya asked bluntly as Jin held the door open. The latter shook his head, unaware that Elias and Nina had slipped through and were lying in wait. Kazuya poured himself a shot of Jack Daniel's from the bottle on his desk. He held the shot between two muscled fingers as he swiveled around to stare at the computer screens behind him. Nina nibbled Elias' ear and nodded in the direction of the desk. Papers littered the tabletop, along with a few stray cigar butts, the bottle of Jack and a recently emptied ashtray. Elias got the hint and crawled across to the wall, then gently slid down to the floor.

"Jin." The teen froze midway down the wall and Nina's arms tightened around her. Kazuya was looking at the second screen with a blank look on his face. A crowd had formed around two guards who were visibly drunk and rapidly emptying a case of Bacardi. "Take care of them." Jin said nothing and exited the room, leaving Kazuya alone and the two fighters sliding down the wall with something approaching relief. Nina quietly got off of the teen and stalked towards the table...  
~

...and jumped away as it flipped and scattered the papers everywhere, coating some of them with cigar ashes. "It took you long enough to arrive, Williams." Kazuya snarled. Her cloaking device was useless now-he knew it was her-so she threw it across the room. "How did you like Jin? I saw you poking around with some nigger, so I thought I'd-" Nina sent her fist flying into his face, cracking his nose. He growled and tried to kick her, but she slipped through his defense and threw him to the ground.

"You never stop talking, do you?"

"Neither do you." He charged at her again, and they exchanged blows, Nina being faintly aware of a shadow moving towards the computer. She had to stall until the shadow left. Kazuya's steel-toed boot-clad foot missed her temple by an inch and collided with her cheek. Nina held it there for a split second and drew a blade from the boot. Kazuya never took chances, he always had a weapon on him somewhere, she knew that from experience. The man in question thrust a fist at her stomach which she evaded, feinting a slice at his face.

No matter who you are or how tough you are, you're still human. Humans are egotistical, and if you go for their faces, they will cover it first. Even the best of fighters make this mistake.

Like Kazuya.

His fist moved to block the blade, but Nina was faster and ripped him across his chest. She moved in for the stab and managed to bury the point in his chest before he snatched the metal out of her hand and sent her back, toppling backward. From the corner of her eye, she saw Elias finish what she was doing with the computers and stuff some papers into her clothes.

"What are you-" She was caught looking too long, Kazuya had seen Elias. "You." He laughed demonically and pulled a gun from his pocket. The teen's cloaking device short-circuited after she used it to ricochet the first shot harmlessly into the desk. Elias ducked the second shot and made for the window. "NINA!" The assassin didn't need calling, she had already gotten up and smashed through the window. A few more steps and she would be gone, Elias jumping out after her.

Or at least she would have been if Kazuya hadn't grabbed her and thrown her back into the room. Nina's eyes slammed shut a moment when she felt her back collide with the opposite wall. "She left you." murmured Kazuya as he raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

Metal bounced off of metal, the bullet embedding itself in his leg. Elias knelt in front of the assassin, her precious bolo sporting a scratch down the middle. "That's not the little girl I remember." said Kazuya, reloading the gun. Elias shoved the papers into Nina's hands. "Run." she said in the calmest voice she could muster. "I'll follow you, I promise." Heihachi's crazed son laughed again and Elias spun around.

"Isn't that what he told you years ago?"

"Nina, GO!" Nina got up and made for the window. Kazuya turned to fire a shot at her, but found himself eating the carpet after the blue-eyed teenager tackled him. The assassin jumped out the window, pulling a radio off her belt. "Natsuki!" she managed to yell before hitting the water below. A boat immediately pulled up and fished her out of the water. "Perfect timing." she said to him. Natsuki raised a thumb. "Where's Elias?"

"She's still up there." She pulled out her Berettas and shot down some guards who made an appearance. "I have enough to hold them off for half an hour," her protege said. He jumped off the boat and onto the dock, modified guns strapped to his arms. Nina looked up at the window she just jumped out of. No sign of the girl.

She prayed with everything she had left that Elias would worm her way out of this one without her.  
~

Kazuya exchanged blows with Elias, the latter weakened by a bullet hole through her left side. He finally threw her to the floor near the window, near the gun he dropped during the struggle. She held it in front of her, a crazed animal instead of a young girl looking at him from the floor. He had one chance to make things work in his favor.

"Hmph. You're still weak." Her finger seemed stuck to the trigger.

"You're just a girl, you're nobody." She had to shoot, she wouldn't die here. Not tonight.

"You can't save anyone." Why couldn't she fucking shoot?! "You couldn't save your own father." He advanced slowly, Elias' eyes streaming with tears of hate.

"HE TOLD ME TO RUN!"

"You were afraid."

"I WAS SIX!"

"Fear is weakness. You are weak." Just a little more and he could kill her. "You won't be able to save them."

"I SAVED NINA!"

"You were lucky. What about Leo, or Asuka, or Steve? Or that punk kid Nina calls a protege?"

"YOU FUCKING DICK!"

"Don't try to hide it. You're still that little kid who ran away and left her father to die."

"HE TOLD ME TO DO IT!"

"You could have chosen not to. What would your dear sister say if she knew?"

"LEO LOVES ME! AND SHE DOESN'T FUCKING KNOW!"

"Think about it. What if she finds out that you left your father to die? You, the bastard daughter of a spelunker and a whore from Palawan."

"HE WAS A CAVER!"

"Unloved, never able to fit in her half-sister's shoes-"

"MY PARENTS LOVED ME, UNLIKE YOURS YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!"

"-the weak little girl who left her own father to die." Her finger shook.

"I LOVED MY FATHER!"

"You're going to be like me."

"NEVER!"

"Like me, you never loved your father. You killed him that night when you ran-"

"I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!" He laughed.

"Then prove it. Shoot me." Elias' hand shook violently, then lowered the gun. "I knew it. You're weak." Kazuya let his guard down and slowly pulled another gun from his other pocket.

But not before Elias furiously emptied the gun of its bullets.

He fell back, and she looked at him deliriously before she jumped out the window towards Nina and Natsuki. He smiled.

She didn't kill him. She was weak.  
~

Elias fell to the ground and landed in Natsuki's arms. "I've got her, let's go!" Nina shot down one more guard and Natsuki jumped onto the boat. The assassin turned around to fire one more shot as the boat whirred to life and drove them away. His hands felt wet and sticky. Natsuki wiped them off on his shirt and saw them smear bright red blood on it. Elias was bleeding heavily. He fumbled for the first aid kit.

"...Tsuki-kun..." She tried to move.

"Stay there, you'll make it worse!"

"How bad is it?" yelled Nina, not turning around in the driver's seat. Strangely, Kazuya hadn't sent anybody after them. Natsuki moved Elias' arm away to examine the hole. "It's not too deep, the bullet's still there, she must have managed to slow it down somehow. I think I can take it out."

"...Tsuki-kun..."

"It's okay." His voice was soothing. "I'm going to pull the bullet out, okay? It has to come out. Then I'm going to fix it up so you can sleep."

"...Tsuki-kun..." He looked at her, moonlight bathing her pale face. "...don't...lie to...me...will it...hurt?" He nodded. She sighed and moved her arm. Natsuki took his tweezers and fixed them around the bullet. "Do it fast." she breathed. He nodded again, then counted to three and yanked the metal out of her. Elias' hand clawed at his back hard and let out a scream before falling unconscious.

Nina winced. "She's out cold." Natsuki muttered. "I can stitch her up and cauterize the hole, but I need a better light." Nina docked the boat then hijacked a nearby car. Together they loaded the patient into the backseat, the bolo glinting at her side and made for Elias' apartment.

Once they arrived, Natsuki gently laid her on the bed. Nina flicked on the lights and rushed to the bedside.

She was an assassin used to blood and gore, she even sported a few impressive scars herself, but the sight of it was sickening. The wound still oozed blood, a bruise was starting to form around it. The skin was pale and ripped, small amounts of fat shining yellow under the white light. Natsuki wiped away some of the blood and Nina let herself breathe again. Sometimes blood makes things look worse than they really are. His steady hands guided the curved needle through a vein, a lighter cauterizing it quickly. The patient squirmed, but Nina held her down as Natsuki stitched and burned the skin. He wiped some sweat from his brow and reached for the Betadine.

As he was swabbing the spot with the orange disinfectant, Nina asked him for the bullet. Natsuki fumbled in his pocket and handed it to her. She wiped off some of the blood and revealed a small green light.

"Fuck." The mechanic's head perked up at the word. Nina Williams rarely swore, but when she did, 'fuck' was the nicest. "It's a tracking device." She threw it to the floor and stomped on it. The green light went off. "I should have guessed." muttered Natsuki. He had finished bandaging the patient. It would hold if she did her best not to move too much. Nina picked up a bag and riffled through the drawers for some clothes. "Where will she go?"

"Leo's." She didn't know why, but Leo Kliesen seemed more likely to take the girl in than anyone else. "Here." She threw Natsuki a small garment that had blue and white stripes. "Ah, Ninaa-sama-"

"Don't worry, after tonight she'd let you have it." She watched naughtily as her protege wordlessly stuffed the underwear into his pocket.  
~

"I'm coming, hold on." The caver was still groggy as she stumbled barefoot towards the door in a black tanktop and jeans. "Nina? What're you-" She was cut off by the sight of Elias hanging limply from Natsuki's shoulder. Nina went straight to the point. "Can you let her stay with you for a while?" Leo nodded.

"Bedroom's this way." She led them to it, and helped Natsuki unload her onto the bed. "Don't let her roll around, the hole might open up again." he said. Leo saw blood on the teenager's clothes and noticed the white gauze over Elias' side.

"Alright." She saw them to the door. Nina gave her one of her Berettas and several bullets. "Can you shoot?" The German nodded. "Good. Be on your guard." she said, and left. Leo closed the door and looked at the gun in her hands. It was heavy, probably had a fresh case. She stuffed it into her pocket and made her way back to her room, but not before locking the door.

Leo looked down at the girl, blood caking the bolo at her side. "What kind of trouble have you gotten into this time, Elias?" she whispered to the sleeper. She looked at the clock. 5 AM. Leo crawled into bed next to her, on foot dangling off the side. She slipped an arm under the teen's neck and sidled up to her to make sure she didn't move in her sleep. The gun poked her side, but Leo didn't dare put it somewhere else.

She closed her eyes, unaware that Elias would open her eyes and lie awake until morning.  
~

Hiya! So Elias is carrying some daddy issues around, and Leo has no idea whatsoever that they're related. Not bad for two days of mathematical torture. XD

Did I tell you guys that I missed you yet? No? I missed you guys so much~

Read if you like, review if you want to, I'll be lovin' y'all forever and ever~


	13. The Neon Glow

"Hello?" Leo opened the door and let Natsuki in. The mechanic brought in some meatlover's pizzas and set them down on the table. "Did she wake up yet?" he asked.

"Yeah once. Scared the life out of me with those screams." Leo opened the box and offered him a slice. "What happened last night? And don't tell me it was nothing."

"Do you want everything?" The caver nodded. "She snuck into Kazuya's secret base with Nina-sama. Kazuya caught them, but Eliana got shot before escaping."

"Eliana?"

"Yeah, that's her name. She didn't tell you?" Leo shook her head. There were a lot of things Elias never told her. "Could I go see her?" Natsuki asked while picking at the toppings. She nodded and led him in. The blue-eyed teen lay asleep on the bed. He checked her for signs of infection. "She's tough, you know." Leo told him. "You don't have to worry about her so much." She didn't think that he had to know how Elias whimpered into the pillows in her sleep.

It was kind of heartbreaking.

Natsuki got up to leave. "Hey." Leo called. He turned around. "Stay for breakfast. You and I need to talk." He nodded and made his way to the table. She got him a mug with some coffee in it. "What did you want to talk about?" Natsuki asked.

"Elias." He stared. "Yeah. I want to know everything you know." Natsuki sighed. "I only know what Nina-sama and Dad told me." Leo nodded and pushed his slice across the table. "Her name's Eliana, maiden name Santos, neither of them know what her last name is. Orphaned at six, found by Marshall Law at eight when she tried to slip her fingers down his back pocket."

"No formal schooling, everything she knows right now, she got from a book. A natural fighter, since she's lived off the streets her whole life. I don't know what she wants with Kazuya, or what kind of grudge she's got against him. And oh yeah."

"What?"

"She loves you." Leo was a little shocked by that. "Hey, Leo, you said Elias was here and you wanted me to come by..." Steve Fox nearly dropped the sushi he brought along.

There was a boy in Leo's apartment.

A cute boy.

What girls on the internet called 'bishi'. A bishi, in his girlfriend's apartment. "Steve, this is Elias' boyfriend-"

"I'm not her boyfriend."

"Then why are her panties in your pocket?"

"How do you know they're hers?"

"You just told me." The mechanic dropped his head in defeat. The three of them heard rustling from the bedroom. "Go in, Steve, Natsuki's telling me something." The boxer peered down at him. He stared back. Steve lightly flicked the back of his head.

"She's mine, just so you know." He disappeared into the bedroom.  
~

"Ohoho, I don't think so." Her voice was still the same, though it sounded a bit tired. "I brought you sushi, E-li." Steve handed her the sushi and watched her tear into it. "She's not yours, kuya, not by a long shot."

"What makes you say that?" Elias picked off the squid first. He knew it was her least favorite, but that she would eat it anyway. "Have you asked her to be yours?"

"Well, no, I just figured-"

"Then she's not yours, kuya." Steve stared at her. "Is this some sort of girl thing?" The girl nodded then went for the sea urchin. Another not-so favorite, but food's food, and only the sick or stupid don't give it proper attention. "Of course. If guys have the bro code, girls have guidelines."

"Enlighten me." The sea urchin disappeared and he handed her the crab. "Look, kuya, what you and Leo have is what's called a 'mutual agreement' in the Philippines. Mutual agreements..." Elias enthusiastically bit into the crab. "Mutual agreements are?"

"Are like relationships, only unofficial, and you only want a relationship to be unofficial if you're either fishing around for girls or just care about cash, gas and ass. You are in neither category."

"Damn right I'm not." Elias nodded and tore through the meat. "Now, what you want is a relationship, not a relation-shit. You want that, you gotta ask her and soon."

"Ask her what?"

"To be your girlfriend, ya crazy Brit! Jesus, you're dense, but Leo likes you, so I'll let it slide." Steve nodded and reached for a piece of crab. She stared at him through slits of eyes but let him steal the food. He bought it anyway. "Here's what you gotta do. I'm going to call Tsuki-kun-"

"Tsuki-kun?" Steve asked. "Yeah, he's here isn't he?" she asked through a mouthful of crab. He raised an eyebrow with a smug smile. "Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm not going to help you out with Leo-

"He has your underwear."

"-and trust me, you're going to regret, wait he has my underwear?" Tough girls like Elias are going to blush at least once in their lives, you just have to find out what makes them do it. "Yeah, the one with stripes-"

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT PUTANGINA ANONG KLASENG PUNYEMAS SHETPAK NA EPAL-"  
~

A stream of words came from the room. Leo looked up from where she sat with Natsuki. She made out a 'fucking', a 'shit, and a string of other words that she didn't even want to know about. "You do know what you're getting into with her right?" The boy in question nodded. "It's alright, Nina-sama swears like that sometimes too."

"Hmm. You're probably going to be a good boyfriend." Natsuki hung his head to hide the redness on his cheeks, one finger wrapped in the blue-striped panties.  
~

Steve clapped his hands over her mouth. He had no idea what she said, but he was pretty damn sure it wasn't good. "Shh, he'll hear you."

"BUT HE HAS MY UNDERWEAR-"

"Come on, let him have it. I'm pretty sure you're still wearing a pair right now." Elias stuck a finger down the waistband of her pants and felt around. "Alright fine," she muttered after poking around her pants. Her cheeks were still red. "He can keep them. For now." she added darkly. Steve smirked.

"You were saying?"

"I'm going to fake an asthma attack and say I hadn't had one in years so it doesn't look to suspicious. Then I'll drag him off somewhere so you can be stuck here with Leo. You can ask her then."

"What if she says no?"  
~

A loud smack echoed from the bedroom. Leo shook her head. "You were saying, Natsuki?"

"She went through at least five or six foster families before leaving the system to live on her own."

"But why?" Natsuki shrugged.

"Even Google doesn't know for sure why someone would do something. She'll have to tell you herself."  
~

Steve rubbed his cheek to restore some circulation. No wonder she beat Bryan Fury. Christie had slapped him once and left a red spot, not a throbbing hand print on his face. "You kissed her and got to second base. Do you honestly think that Leo Kliesen, of all the tough girls in all the world, would let just anybody do that?"

Girl's got a point.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." The anger on her face shifted to an impish smile. "Good. Now give me a minute to get ready for my close-up."  
~

Natsuki burst into the room after Steve rushed out screaming that Elias had started wheezing. "Why didn't you say you had asthma?!" he yelled.

"Been...haaa...years...since...haaaa...last time...haaa..." The mechanic helped her up, being extremely careful with the side with the bullethole and led her out the door. Leo hurried after them. "Don't you two need a ride to the hospital or something?" Elias shook her head vigorously. "I can grab a taxi, don't worry. Stay here with Steve in case we need to call you." said Natsuki. They disappeared into the elevator. Once inside, Elias removed the little blade she had poised at the mechanic's neck. "You know how to play the game." she said.

"You didn't have to knife me." he replied. Elias shrugged. "That was for my panties." Natsuki fumbled in his pocket. "No, keep them."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. But you're going to pay for them by buying me sushi." Silence.

"This isn't a date, is it?"

"No, Tsuki-kun." He laughed. Who knew he'd find a genuine tsundere someday?  
~

"They're gone." sighed Leo after the two teens left her alone in her apartment with a certain Brit. "Yeah." said Steve.

"What did Elias say?" Steve looked at her incredulously. "How did you know she-"

"You just told me." He put his head in his hands and Leo sat next to him on the couch. "Now, is there something you have to tell me?" she asked him. Steve twiddled his thumbs.

"Come on, say it." Steve murmured something under his breath. "What?"

"I said, will you please..."

"Please...?"

"WILL YOU PLEASE BE MY GIRLFRIEND PLEASE PLEASE SORRY THIS IS AWKWARD I'M GOING TO GO NOW BYE." He got up to leave and she pulled at his arm before he could get away. She asked, "Wait, what?" Sometimes when you hear something wonderful you fake not hearing what they just said, just so you can have the pleasure of hearing it again. He breathed in deeply.

"I was wondering if you could please be my..." He stumbled over the next word. "...girlfriend?" She didn't answer. Steve figured that he had better leave so he made for the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" He turned around. Leo was grinning madly. "Well, you didn't say anything, and I thought-" Her kiss was sweet, but somehow he knew it wouldn't be sweet for much longer.

"Shaddap ya crazy Brit, you're mine." The last thing he saw before forgetting the rest of that afternoon was Leo's cheeky grin.  
~

"So, let me get this straight, you faked an asthma attack just to get them alone?"

"My acting was pretty damn good wasn't it?" Elias had a grin on her face; unlike Leo's cheeky grin, her smile was more like the smirk Aladdin would have made before snatching the lamp. Natsuki gulped down more Mountain Dew. Elias filled him in on the plan when they were safely a block away from Leo's apartment. He must have looked shocked when she stopped leaning on him and started laughing so hard that she had to sit down on a stoop.

There was something about her laugh, too. When you've lived on the street for some time, you see things, terrible things. He knew that she ought to have seen some awful stuff, but her laugh didn't show it. "Damn right it was." They laughed. Natsuki peeked down at her side. The gauze showed through the hole in her shirt, still clean.

"Hey, what were you two talking about outside?"

"Who, me and Leo?" She nodded and finished off her Mountain Dew in a few gulps. "It's fine, I won't kill you." She sounded kind of...bitter.

"I was telling her about you."

"And what would you know about me?"

"I know who you really are, how long you've been here, the fact that you left the adoption system after five families. Why did you leave them anyway?" She shrugged and reached for his drink. He let her have it.

"I got too used to living on the street. Most of them made a lot of fuss about how I made money." Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "I did a few favors, delivered a few things."

"Like what?"

"Drugs. Money. Hookers." He seemed surprised, but not like everyone else she knew who wouldn't speak to her again after finding out what she did for a living the past four years. His face was different, surprised not by what she did, but how she managed to do it. "It was a hellish lifestyle, Tsuki-kun, no twelve-year-old ought to live it. I kept my nose in my own business and kept all relationships professional. The fourth family, the Adamsons, they found out after finding weed in my room. They didn't find all of it though."

"Did they make you leave or did you do that yourself?"

"Tell me, why do you even want to know?"

"You owe me, I stitched you up after you clawed my back last night." He had looked the scratches over that morning. Nothing serious, but it hurt like a tiger clawed him. "Sorry."

"Nah, don't mind it. Did you leave them or did they make you go?"

"I left. They were going to make me go anyway." The sun was starting to set, and they hadn't moved from the stoop after buying the sodas. Natsuki figured his dad wouldn't look for him; he was probably busy doing papers with Nina-sama watching. He finished his Mountain Dew and threw the bottle into a can a few feet away. "And what made you leave the fifth?" That shrug.

"They wanted a cut. They were greedy, but that wasn't why I didn't share."

"Why then?"

"The money came from a deal gone bad. I had to pick the guy off, he tried to set me up. Tried to take my baby..." She felt around for the bolo but didn't find it. "which is back at Leo's, but failed. I got out of there with the money, and since the guy I got the cash for wanted the other guy dead anyway, he gave me more than what he usually paid me for a job that simple."

"Why did you even do stuff like that, Eliana?" Elias stiffened.

If he called her that again, she'd be arrested for the first time for public indiscretion.

"I had to find her. He asked me to. I couldn't just waltz around Manila showing off her picture and ask random people to ship me off to Germany. No, they would have blown me off like everybody else." She stared at the ground. Natsuki leaned forward to encourage her to continue.

"I needed money, and food. I couldn't eat out of the garbage like the other street kids. Figured it would be like I'd given up looking for her. So I picked pockets, usually foreigners'. Americans, Chinese, European, I didn't give a shit where they were from, as long as their money was good."

"But one day, I nearly gave up. I was this close," Elias made a space between her thumb and first finger. "This close to picking a half-eaten burger out of the trash that some rich kid had thrown away because they were too full to finish the damn thing. I was about to eat it when I first saw Tiyo Marshall. He looked rich, I didn't know he was half broke and looking for a job. I snuck up and slipped my fingers down his pocket."

"I wasn't careful enough like I usually was, he felt me. He was different. When anyone else would have sent me to the police, he gave me a hundred bucks. Imagine. Giving the straggly kid who just tried to run off with your wallet a hundred when you're half broke yourself. He even took me to live with him a while. I told him about what Papa wanted, and he said he'd help me, that he'd heard rumors of Emma Kliesen and what she did."

"Tiyo Marshall got me out of Manila and the Philippines, set me up with a family in an Italian neighborhood. They were my first family, the Riottis. They were the hardest to leave."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because they were genuinely nice. A bowlful of spaghetti or soup or pasta of some sort every meal, they wiped my forehead when I had fevers, all that parenting stuff, even though there were five other kids except me. I missed my old life, kinda like Stockholm Syndrome, only no one ever kidnapped me. I snuck out at night when they were all asleep and found some button men hanging around the park. They paid me pretty good money just for buying them things like cigarettes, sometimes girl stuff that they couldn't buy without being stared at. The Riottis found out after a known button man waved at me in the street. I was still a stupid kid then, I waved back at him, tuloy, alam na."

"A-lam na?"

"Sorry, it means they figured it out when I waved back. They have this omerta thing, a law of silence, so they didn't tell anyone. Besides, all I was doing was getting things for them like some waitress. Nothing serious. But I got into deeper shit, and for more money. It started with weed, then moved on to guns, then I had to pass a hooker off as my sister. I could see I was dragging their name in the dirt with all the shit I was getting myself into, so I took two-thirds of the money and stuck it to the fridge with a magnet along with a note telling them how sorry I was." It was starting to get dark, but the streetlamps hadn't turned on yet. Natsuki was still listening. Elias smiled to herself.

A guy who was seriously listening to her like he was actually interested. Guys who listen to you without getting bored are hard to find. But who would blame a guy for getting bored when listening to a girl? Most of the time all other girls talk about are boys and clothes.

"They kept an eye out for me, even after I left. The button men would meet with me even after I got adopted by other families and tell me that the Riottis were worrying their asses off about me, how the kids would cry in the morning when they didn't see me come out and play with them, sometimes passing along some book that Papa Riotti bought for me or some shirt that Mama Riotti got me. When I moved away, none of them button men came looking for me. I waited, saved some money, bought my laptop and gave it a few upgrades with the money I saved. I figured they forgot about me, which is how I wanted it."

"Why would you want them to forget you?" Elias shrugged again.

"Because they were too good a family to get mixed up with someone like me." The stars were out now, neon lights drowned the streets in pink, green and blue. Natsuki peeked at his watch. He would have to be home soon. But not so soon that he couldn't walk her back to the apartment. "Sorry Eliana, but I gotta go soon. Mind if I-"

"Walk me back? Well, thank you." They passed under the neon past the couples walking by arm-in-arm. "Thank you, Tsuki-kun. For actually listening to me." He smiled at the ground. "No problem."

"And, Tsuki-kun?"

"Hmm?" Elias smirked.

"I was serious when I said you could keep the panties." They exchanged smiles and walked off into the neon glow.  
~

I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH. Have a hug. Good news is, there's a chance I can still pass trigonometry and make up for the massive flunk I got last quarter. Coca Cola for everybody! XD

Bad news is, updates aren't going to be as often as before, and they're going to be longer. Quantity for quality or something like that. Hope you guys don't mind. Exams are next week and I have to study like a good girl.

Anyways, read if you like, review if you want, maybe if I can squeeze it in I'll post the next chapter before Monday. Missing you guys, suki dayo~ =)))


	14. The News

Elias sauntered into the dark apartment and closed the door behind her. In the dim light of the moon she could see Leo's sleeping form sprawled over the sofa. A sniff of the air confirmed her suspicions.

Something very special had just happened in here.

The blue-eyed teen felt her way around to the kitchen. Flicking on the lights, she picked out a pack of noodles and scoured the shelves for some tomato sauce. Spaghetti was always a good source of energy, and Leo kind of seemed in need of it. Elias put some water in a pot and set it on the stove, then ripped open the pack with her teeth and poured in the noodles. A bell rang somewhere. She leaped over the counter and whisked into the room for her bolo. The ringing was insistent, and she put an eye to the peephole to see a man so tall that she saw his chest instead of his face wearing some kind of army uniform. Her hand was on the hilt when she opened the door.

"Ah, Comrade Dragunov." The pale Russian nodded once and handed her an envelope. "Great thanks, comrade. Would you like to-" He cut her off with a hand. Elias understood and nodded. Dragunov made a perfect right-face and marched quietly down to the elevator, cold blue eyes betraying no emotion whatsoever.

The bolo wielder closed the door and leaned against it while turning the envelope over in her hands. Funny, it was addressed to her and Leo. The only people she knew who knew she was here were Nina, Steve and Natsuki. She walked back to the kitchen where the spaghetti was nearly done. Some meat appeared from the refrigerator and a knife sliced through the envelope just as easily as it sliced through the pack of tomato sauce. Carefully, so that nothing red would get on it, Elias pulled the paper out and read it.

**To all King of Iron Fist Tournament fighters, due to technical issues, the tournament will no longer progress as planned. Contestants will be eligible for the title of King of Iron Fist if in the event that they bring Lars Alexandersson alive to the arena within a week.**

**Thank you for your time and patience.**

"Hey, what's up E-li?" A very groggy voice asked from somewhere behind her. "We have a problem, Leo." Elias handed the sleepy caver the paper. Leo's eyes slowly went from sleepy to steely after every word. "Why?"

"If I knew I'd tell you." The teen was hacking angrily at the meat. Leo peered into the pot. It didn't even have meat yet and it already started to smell good. "Alexandersson...I remember him. Sandy hair, sensitive man parts."

"What?"

"He flirted with me once at the beach party, nothing special, just the kind of flirting you have between friends."

"How do you know he has sensitive man parts?" Elias asked as she shoveled the meat into a pan to fry. "Lili kicked him." She winced and licked some sauce off a spoon. "Taste this shit, wilya?" Leo took the spoon. "You call this shit?"

"Yeah. Is it shit or the shit?"

"Girl, it is THE SHIT." They laughed, rather, Leo laughed, because when Elias tried the bullet hole pinched her before she could finish. Leo lazily stirred the noodles around, Elias sprinkling something green into the sauce. "Could you..." the teen began.

"What?"

"Nah, nevermind. Throw this in with the noodles won't you?" Leo reached for the salt and tapped some of it in. "What do you need?"

"It's nothing."

"E-li." Elias sighed deeply and scraped the fried meat into the sauce. "Could you go back to my place with me? There's something there that I have to get." Leo nodded. The noodles were just about ready to go. Elias turned off the flame and put some of the pasta on two plates. "Get your own sauce, we'll go after a bite." she said, handing the caver the spoon.

"E-li?" The teen turned her head. "Who are you, really?"

"I am Elias."

"No, really." The bolo wielder shook her head. "I'd be happy to tell you, just not now." Cheese appeared from the refrigerator and Elias tossed it over to her. "You promise you'll tell me?" She looked at Leo. Elias would have loved to tell her everything, from start to finish. Just not now.

"I promise. Eat your spaghetti, you're getting too thin."  
~

A key turned in the lock, and Elias entered her old room. Nothing had changed in the slightest since she'd left it. Leo sat at the table to wait. The younger girl rummaged through the drawers.

"Just what are you looking for E-li?"

"This." She pressed a button on a remote, making a panel in the floor open up to show a laptop. "Did you-"

"Yup. With permission of course." Soon, the laptop was safely stuffed into a bag padded with clothes. Elias was filling it with other necessities, when Leo happened to notice the picture.

"Hey, is that-" Elias sprang at her and put a hand over her mouth.

There were footsteps. Loud footsteps. The caver bit the inside of her cheek. Elias slid off her and towards the door, making signs that she should be quiet. Leo crept to the wall and saw her pull a gun out of nowhere and cock it. The footsteps stopped, then began again, this time moving away from them. She went to join Elias as the latter creaked open the door.

A familiar silhouette stained the hall. A small red light pulsed near its neck.

"We'll have to get out some other way." Elias whispered. The two silently paced back to the bag. Leo had a world of questions to ask. Why did a silhouette with a red light come here, why did Elias have a remote-controlled panel in her apartment, where did she get that gun, why did that man in the photo look familiar?

Oh well. Run now, ask questions later.

"Come on." Elias hissed. The caver picked up the photo and gave the apartment a once over. She pointed to the panel. The blue-eyed teen nodded and reached for the remote to close it. "The fire escape." she murmured and looked out the window.

The damn thing was blocked by some barrels of God knows what.

"Fine. Get on me." Elias turned around. "You're not going to just climb down with me on your back are you?" Leo hissed. The footsteps were coming back louder. "When are you going to learn to trust me?" The caver sighed and clung on to her. Elias donned her cat-claw gloves and stepped out the window, just in time for someone to enter the apartment.  
~

Jin Kazama looked out the window, down the wall and up the building. There was no one.

He never saw them take refuge in a window one floor down.  
~

"GEDDUP!"

She was still half-asleep. That voice sounded a lot like Asuka.

"WAKE UP YA FREAKING CAVE GIRL!"

Then there's Xiao. Funny dream.

"STEVE'S HERE!"

"What?!"

"Told you it'd work." Xiao huffed at that and plopped down on the bed next to Leo. "Kinda early for you guys to be waking someone up." The latter remarked as Asuka bounced onto the bed. "You were easier to wake up, really."

"Huh?"

"Elias. You could bring the place down on her head and she wouldn't notice." Asuka mumbled. "Where is she anyway?"

"Sleeping like the dead on the couch." Something thudded on the floor and the three rushed out to see the teen sprawled across the floor, one leg draped over the sofa and an arm leaning on the coffee table. "Did I say couch? I meant floor." Asuka muttered, prodding at Elias gently with a toe. The sleeper didn't react. "Hey, that laptop's still running. Should I-"

"Turn it off, Xiao? Sure, if you have a deathwish."

"Come on, Leo. You know the electricity bill's a bitch." Xiao reached out to shut down the machine when...

"DON'T MESS WITH MY TECHNO." The sleeper was awake, one blue eye icy under a messy shock of black hair. "Alright, alright." Xiao moved her hand away and Elias pulled herself back up to restore herself to something that looked more like a regular girl than Sadako. "What are you doing, anyway? Downloading LoL?"

"I already have that." replied Elias while tapping some keys at breakneck speed. Asuka shrugged and went after Leo to get some off the spaghetti from the night before. Xiao sat next to the bolo wielder to watch her pound the keys into oblivion. "Defense of the Ancients?"

"Got that."

"Fly for Fun?"

"Bored me. Graphics weren't to my liking, sorry."

"Cabal?"

"Fun, but I like LoL better."

"Dragon Nest?"

"Finished it."

"Age of Conan?"

"Not enough RAM, but that's next."

"Do you two plan on eating at all? 'cause if you don't want your share, I could make Asuka eat it." Leo called from the kitchen. Xiao yelled that she would eat, Elias completely ignored the question, lithe fingers thumping on keys. "What are you doing?" Asuka asked from her right. "You'll think I'm weird, better if you didn't know." Someone knocked and Leo went to answer it, still holding the spaghetti.

"Nina."

"Nina?" asked Asuka and Xiao.

"NINAA!" Elias jumped up from her laptop and ran to hug the assassin. "Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked the blue-eyed teen clamped around her waist. "Why?"

"You were shot last night remember?" Did Nina Williams, Mishima Zaibatsu's most dangerous assassin, sound concerned? Leo couldn't put her finger on it, but Elias seemed to have quite the relationship with the Irish bodyguard. "Oh that. I'll be fine." the girl replied, pulling Nina into the apartment. "Oi, Xiasuka." Elias called to the two fighters staring at her PC screen. "Scoot." They moved, but not before taking a bite out of her bowl of spaghetti. Leo shook her head and closed the door. "We've got an extra bowl, you hungry, Nina?" she called from the kitchen.

"One bowl, dude!" Elias' cheery voice called. Nina sighed and took a bottle out of a bag. "Here. Proper whiskey."

"Aww. First you feed me, now you buy me drinks."

"I only bought it to make up for the one I finished off the other night." Elias laughed and continued to thump on the keyboard. "You were planning on sharing that bottle, right?" Leo asked, sliding the bowl across the coffee table to Nina. "Thanks."

"Sure." the caver replied, taking a bite.

"Have you done it with Steve?"

Usually when you hear someone ask if you've done it with your boyfriend, it's from someone like your best friend. Not your boyfriend's assassin mom. An old man three floors down soon found chewed pasta taking refuge in his toupee. Xiao was grinning from ear to ear and Asuka was laughing like a maniac. Elias of course was completely oblivious to the situation, only gulping down her glass of whiskey. Nina refilled the glass and watched the caver close the window. "You came all the way here just to ask me if I did it with Steve?"

"No, I'm here on business. But feel free to answer the question sometime today." Her voice was professional now, the three of them snapped to attention. "What's up?" asked Elias, mercilessly button-mashing the keyboard now. Nina drank her glass of whiskey down in one shot.

"Kazuya's angry, Elias. He wants you dead."  
~

*rises from the study table* How many centuries has it been? Here's the first of two or three thingamabobs that I'm planning to do while ignoring the background of the study that I'm supposed to do for Research. Sorry if it's not like the way I used to make them, my head's still kinda spinning from the trigo, which I flunked. =_=

You know how it goes. Flames are for barbecue, not fanfics. Suki dayo~


	15. He won't kiss and tell

"That's all?"

Some things you never get used to. Having strange men run around trying to kill you apparently isn't one of them these days. "Wait, wait, fill us in here." Leo cried. "Why would he want you dead? You didn't do anything." It was obviously Elias' time to tell the story, so Nina sat back to watch the events unfold. Elias stopped typing a minute and pressed her fingers together. "You want me to tell you?" Leo nodded, the Chinese girl and the female Mishima following suit. "Fine." muttered Elias.

"You remember last night, right? A man with a blinking red light followed us to the apartment. That was Jin." The German held back a question. "Yes, it's obvious he isn't as dead as everyone thinks he is. Anyway, he's working for Kazuya now, I don't know why and I don't care why. A few weeks ago, I got into his base and picked up a little file on someone, don't ask who. He got a little pissed, but nothing too serious."

"Then just last week, Nina and I slipped into Kazuya's base somewhere offshore and hacked into his systems. That was the first time Jin appeared in person and tried to kill us. That was when I hacked into his systems. I put a little virus I cooked up, nothing special, it just manipulates the security cameras and sends whatever data they gather back to me via WiFi." The teen turned the laptop around so they could finally see what she was messing with a while ago. Three windows took up most of the screen; two showed guards standing watch over a room with a metal door, the other sported a scene of a pure white room, Jin standing next to a black box. "See that box? That's what I hacked into. My virus is still circulating, so I guess Kazuya's programmers haven't found anything unusual."

"And the final straw was two nights ago, when Nina and Tsuki-kun-"

"Tsuki-kun? Is he that cute one you danced with while fighting Christie?" Asuka asked. Elias nodded slowly. "Are you two-"

"ANYWAY. That was when they brought me here wih this." She showed the other two the gauze on her left side. "He shot me before we got away, but I got him back for this. Too bad he didn't die like I planned." Elias shrugged. "Why am I doing this? Papa asked me to before he died. I'm only carrying out his deathwish."

"What was his deathwish?" asked Leo. The blue-eyed bolo wielder shook her head. "There will be enough time for that later. Now we have to keep him from getting to Lars."

"And to you." Nina reminded her.

"Correction. I already have." The voice came from the laptop. Elias walked around to face it, Nina stopped sipping her whiskey. "Fucking hell, tanginamo talaga." she muttered, furiously pressing the keys. Kazuya's face loomed on screen. "Don't bother little girl, I already have your whereabouts. Disguising yourself with someone else's IP address, is this really all you can do?"

"Goddamn it." Elias shouted, bringing her fists down on the coffee table. She saved a few files to a USB, Kazuya babbling all the while, "Lars is doing very well, Jin's having a sparring match with him at the moment, but don't worry. He's in very good hands." Kazuya's crazed laughter was the last thing they heard before Elias disconnected the USB and tore the battery out of the laptop. "Does this mean we have to go?" asked Xiao.

"Yup, pigtails, we have to bolt." Leo replied, jumping over the sofa to the bedroom. Elias picked up her bolo, Nina sat quietly sipping her whiskey. "You okay, Nina?" asked the teen while tying the blade to her belt loop. The assassin shook her head. "It'll be fine. I promise." Asuka was peering out the window. "Elia, we have to go NOW."

"Are his goons here already?!" She scooped up the laptop and shoved it into the bag next to the coffee table. Leo came out of the bedroom fully dressed and raring to go. "I owe you, Leo. I'm sorry I brought them here."

"Nah, it's okay. There's nothing too important in here anyway."

"I'll still help you out with this place if they rip it up too much."

"IF they rip it up too much." They exchanged nervous laughter. Nina got up and opened the door. She saw no one when she scanned the hall way, but she could hear them thumping up the stairs. Damn thugs couldn't wait for an elevator. "Not this way. Out the window." Asuka looked out again. "No fire escape, the next window ledge is too far away for us to jump to." she reported. The thumping grew louder now. "And here I thought I wouldn't be using my new cartridges." Nina sighed, pulling out her Beretta. She looked over at Elias. The latter nodded and pulled the other ivory-handled Beretta from under the sofa. "I got it from you in your sleep, sorry again." she told Leo. The caver nodded understandingly.

The thumping grew louder. Elias drew her bolo, Asuka and Xiao got ready near the door. "Don't make too much of a mess, Elias." Nina cautioned. A thug kicked the door open. "I can't promise that, Nina." said Elias, leaping at the thug and neatly slicing his arm off. She pushed him back into the other goons outside and started to massacre them, one by one. Leo ran out to join her, rapidly beating the ones she left. In the midst of the fighting and the blood, Leo could see what made Bryan Fury flinch when Elias smiled.

Words can't describe how frightening it is to have a teenager with blood streaked across her face grin madly at you before chopping your arms off.

It was demonic. And yet somehow fitting.

Soon, the thugs were beaten, one side of the hall clean, the other... well. "You overdid it, Elias." Nina chided gently. The girl shrugged. "I didn't feel in the mood to be merciful." she replied. Xiao looked over the now-red hallway. "We gotta go." Elias muttered, moe to herself than anyone else. The five of them left the apartment, but not before washing off some of the blood.  
~

Kazuya stared at the static on the screen. He turned around in his chair to face a chessboard. Black was left with the king, a queen and a pawn; white had the same, but with two extra pawns. He picked up his solitary black pawn. "So it begins." The pawn moved forward a square. The Mishima turned back to the screen.

He didn't see that some of the black had smudged off to show a white spot.  
~

Left, right, hook. Repeat twice.

Right, hook, uppercut, Tiger claw.

"Steve." The boxer turned to face the elder Law. "That's enough. You can do more tomorrow."

"Thanks Marshall." Law picked up his bag and patted him on the back before leaving Steve to his thoughts. Steve exhaled through his teeth. "Damn." Damn was just about right. He couldn't forget about yesterday afternoon. The feeling of the sofa, fingernails clawing at his back just hard enough to feel good but not hard enough to make him bleed...

He stopped mid-thought and started to fix his stuff. Even in his thoughts, Steve Fox isn't one to kiss and tell.  
~

That night, the five rested at Xiao's place. Elias immediately pulled her laptop out on arrival and was soon oblivious to the world around her. Nina shook her head and pulled the teen towards the kitchen after shutting the laptop down, easily ignoring the foul words that followed. They had a long day. The way to Xiao's from Leo's usually only took around fifteen minutes, but when armed men are following you around the city, you have to make a few twists and turns somewhere. They pulled all available mattresses to the living room at Asuka's suggestion. After all, it'd be easier to watch each other's backs without walls between you, now wouldn't it?

"I'm bushed." muttered Asuka after their dinner of some real, non-takeout Chinese food. "We're all bushed." replied Xiao. Leo had an arm over her face and was lying next to Elias. The teen was rapidly typing again while leaning against Nina's stomach. Surprisingly, the assassin didn't seem to mind the extra weight. Finally, Elias shut down her machine with a sigh. "I can't find him." she told the others. "Lars' systems are fired, all of them. I can't even find his phone's signal." Xiao passed her hands over her face.

"What will we do then?" asked Asuka. "Stay awake in shifts. Except you, Elias." said Nina tiredly. "You take forever to wake up." agreed Leo. Elias shrugged and lay down next to Nina.

"Leo."

"Yes?"

"You haven't answered me yet." Oh, that. "Well..." Asuka and Xiao were suddenly wide awake, Elias' blue eyes piercing into her. Nina hadn't turned to look at her, but she could see something that looked like a grin in the dim light.

"...maybe."

"Nice." Asuka punched her lightly on the arm. Nina smiled visibly now. "I knew it." said Elias.

"How would you know?"

"They have sex in Manila too, Leo. You get used to the smell."

"It has a smell?"

"Yeah Xiao, and depending on how clean the place is it can either smell nice or smell like shit."

"Details." demanded Nina, rolling over. Leo sighed. "Now?" The audience chorused yes. Xiao turned off the light to let them stay in the light of the moon while Leo told them.  
~

It usually starts with a kiss.

Well, ours did at least. "It's really okay?" he asked me in the middle of one kiss. God, he seriously had to ask? "Yeah, now shut up and kiss me ya crazy Brit."

"What if I don't want to?"

"You're being difficult." I flipped us around so he was on top. "Unlike you," Steve trailed his tongue gently up my neck to my ear. "Are you saying I'm easy?" I felt his smile against my skin. "You're easy for me, love. Not the rest of the world."

Does he HAVE to call me 'love'?

"Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"  
~

"You DID NOT." said Xiao. Leo shrugged. Elias reached out to tug on her hair. "So he had a gun in his pocket. Then what?"  
~

Steve planted a series of kisses across my neck and whispered in my ear before biting it gently. "You seem pretty excited about it." His hand somehow managed to slip into my shorts and started wiggling its fingers around. "I'm not replying to that." I said. He sucked on my neck again and it seriously took everything I had not to scream. "I'm still not replying to that." I told him. No, I was definitely NOT breathless.

"Well, it's perfectly alright with me if I do the talking for tonight, love. Especially since you can't find the words to speak." Something hot slipped up my tank top. "Were you expecting this, Leo?" He chuckled darkly. Okay, I did call him over to my place, but it wasn't my fault I forgot to put something on under there.

Well, maybe it was. But still!

"I'm going to look at them if you don't mind." Steve pushed the tank top up and stared straight at them. Typical man right? "I didn't get to pay much attention to them the last time." He started lapping at my left breast and I wondered just how much porno he went through to prepare.

Probably a lot. He sucked on them.

Ooh. Definitely a lot.

Something slid into me a little bit after that. I never messed with that part, not unless I had to wash it while showering. So naturally, it felt kind of weird. "Steven." He smiled innocently at me. He probably loves it when he makes me call him that. I bet he just adores it.

"Yes love?" Again with the love. "What are you doing down there?"  
~

"God, do you have to talk so much?" Asuka scowled from the sofa. Nina was still sipping her whiskey, blue eyes watching the caver with amusement. "Well, I'm sorry, maybe I'll rip my voice box out before the next time." Leo retorted.

"You two already agreed on a next time?" Xiao asked in wonder. "It's not surprising. Statistical evidence proves that after the first time, a second time is usually agreed upon." Elias put in with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"Let her finish." Nina told them.  
~

"As if you don't already know." His fingers. My God, his fingers. I didn't think they were this way. I reached out for his pants and traced the outline of his zipper. Steve sucked in some air through his teeth but didn't stop messing with me. Well, yeah, he did pay a LOT more attention to my tits than last time, but it's a guy thing, so I'll let it slide.

What I cared about most at the time was buggering him the same way he was buggering me. I read somewhere that sex is give and take. He was torturing me, so why not torture him back right? After all, it is kinda nice watching him squirm every now and then. "Leo..." His voice went an octave lower. I couldn't help smiling a little. Look at him, so rattled with just a touch. I unbuttoned those damned pants and pushed them down.

I do delight in being difficult at times, after all.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" he asked me between groans. He was hard. Rock hard. Michelangelo's white marble David couldn't compare with how hard he was. I let my fingers fool around with it. "Not so fun being rattled, isn't it?" My voice changed somehow. I don't know, but it sounded...sexy. Let me be vain just this once. Michelle Pfieffer would have been proud. Suddenly, he scooted down and left me grabbing for him like a kid who just lost his teddy bear. "What're you-"

"Quiet now, love. Might want to save that voice of yours for more important things." Cold air rushed against my thighs after he practically ripped my shorts off.  
~

"Question."

"Yeah E-li?"

"Were you wearing those striped pantsu that I saw lying under the couch this morning?"

"Ohoho, touche."

"I wouldn't have guessed."

"Shut up Xiaosuka."  
~

And again with that tongue. Shit, I was going to fucking lose it.

"Enjoying yourself, love?"

"Shut up." His tongue poked around some more. "I can't give you what you want unless you tell me what you want."

"Fine. Shut up and go on with whatever you were doing."

"What was I doing? Be specific." His finger was just torturing me. Honestly, never before had I thought one finger could hurt so much and be so damned good at the same time. "You using your fingers and that tongue of yours."

"I'm sorry, what was that love?" Oh, he is going to catch it.

"You were fingering me and using that tongue."

"What?"

"GODDAMN IT PLEASE STEVE FINGER ME AND PUT THAT DAMN MOUTH TO SOME GOOD USE!" He immediately sank back down and... well, the neighbors may have heard but if they did they didn't say anything. "Like that?" And he still expected me to reply. Sorry, ya crazy Brit, but after that performance I don't think I'm going to be much use today. "Hey, it was alright wasn't it?" His voice reverted back to the usual Steve. It was kinda sweet how he was scared that it didn't feel good for me.

But it did. It fucking did. And I told him so.

"My turn?" He was confused for a minute until I pulled him up. A little bit of positioning later, and we found ourselves back in the sitting pose that we were in the first time we kissed. Talk about sentimental value. He was very nice to me, and nice guys deserve rewards. Not that I'd be giving this one to anyone else.  
~

"So you already decided on letting him have the first time?"

"Well, yeah."

"Nice choice." approved Asuka. Xiao was smiling sleepily. Elias was drifting away. Only Nina's blue eyes remained fixed on her. "Then?"  
~

"You do know it's going to hurt right?"

"I get kicked and punched around all the time. How bad can it be?"

Really bad, apparently. Not saying anything about size, that's classified, but he was my first after all. I heard so much about girls breaking their hymen because of sports, so I figured that after being beaten up so much I wouldn't have any hymen left.

God, was I wrong about that one.

"It hurts, I'm sorry." He had me in a hug. I may have clawed him a little, but I guess it'll be okay. Glad I clipped them off a bit the day before. Huh. Seems kinda like an anime version of the first time doesn't it?

"Nah, it's okay. Really."

"Leo."

"Okay, fine. It stings. A little. Gimme a minute."

"I wouldn't mind giving you half my lifetime, love." Oh God, not a Fullmetal Alchemist reference. Roy/Riza were the best couple, but that last line was just epic. And please don't smile like that. Are you trying to blow up what's left of my ovaries?

Time to wipe that grin off his face.

"...haaa..." Somehow, having him there with me, it felt really nice. Not just because of the animal instinct. "Leo...it doesn't...hurt..any...more?"

"Hurt?" I kissed him hard, not stopping for a minute. "Steven, it feels wonderful." He smiled back and buried his fingers in my hair. I knew I was doing all the work, but hey, it felt pretty good. "Glad to hear it, love. Now if you don't mind..." His hand slipped back down between us and started fooling around again. "God, you're a tease." I breathed. I wanted to stop him, really. But one does not simply stop something wonderful.

He sucked on that spot on my neck and I bit back the next scream. "Sorry Leo."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Steve held up the little square.

Trojan.

"Oh. Right." Safe sex. Everybody forgets about the safe sex. I got off him and he pulled out. I stopped him when he was about to put it on. "Could I..." He nodded and let me have the little plastic thing. It's hard to get one of those things on. They all make it look easy in sex ed when they demonstrate by using them on bananas. I finally got the damn thing on him. "It might hurt again." he said.

"Screw it." Damn, I should have rethought that line. He was very careful about putting it back in, and it did hurt, but not as bad as before. He surprised me that time, he didn't go back to the first position, but put me down gently on the sofa. Hmph. Stevie's too much of a gentleman sometimes.

But then, if he weren't then he wouldn't be Steve.

"...haa..." It really is as good as they say it is. A girl could get hooked on this... nah, I'll save it for when I really need it. He lowered his head to give my tits some attention, and I was this close to letting the whole world know what we were doing.

Yet somehow, I didn't give a shit if they knew.

"Leo..."

"It's okay, I'm nearly there."

"I can hold it in another five seconds..." He didn't have to. I already left for another world before he could count to three. "What was that?" he asked me in the afterglow.

"Ich."

"Ick?"

"Ich liebe dich." A lot of people say German's not exactly the nicest sounding language on earth. I don't know. Something just made me say it. "That means I love you?"

"Yeah." We both knew that he didn't have to reply to that.  
~

"Huh." The others had fallen asleep, only Leo and Nina were left to talk in the semi-darkness. "So he IS mine." Leo said nothing but stared back into the assassin's cold blue eyes. Nina slipped her arm out from under Elias' head and switched places with the sleeper, sliding her left arm back under her head before Elias could notice it was gone. "Come on."

"Uh...?"

"I have another arm." The caver looked uncertainly at her. She returned her gaze. The springs creaked as Leo crawled over to the Irish bodyguard."Night." Nina's eyes closed and soon her breathing was calmer. Leo looked her over. She looked younger somehow with her eyes closed, closer to her physical age, if the rumors were true. The caver sighed and burrowed into the older woman's side. All her life, she was always "boy". Now...

Steve had just managed to change that.

"Night Nina." she whispered, before leaving her reality for her dreams.  
~

My bed hasn't looked this beautiful in ages. Here's the promised second thingamabob, sorry I couldn't make it to a third. There was a hell of a lot to do today. Can I tell you guys something honest?

Even though everybody says I'm brave, they don't know how scared shitless I really am.

Anyway, enough with the seriousness. Save some for Monday, hardiharhar. =))

Be back a little later this week if nothing life-changing happens. Feel free to review while I'm gone. Suki dayo~ =))


	16. Worries

Steve was getting worried.

It had been three days since that afternoon with Leo.

And he hadn't heard a word from his crazy German since. No phone calls, no texts, nothing. In a fit of desperation he'd prayed feverishly for a carrier pigeon, but all he got was a sparrow. "I don't understand it, Marshall." he muttered on the third day during training. "First, the tournament's virtually turned into a manhunt, and now Leo won't talk to me." Marshall let him pound furiously at the training pads, completely used to having his hands beaten half to death. "What does Lars have to do with all this anyway? I met him at the beach party, he seemed like a decent guy. Lili kicked him pretty good, but he was a decent guy. Why him? " Punch, punch, punch. "But mostly you're worried because Leo won't talk to you." the elder Law put in.

"Yeah." Steve stopped to breathe. "Come on, Marshall. If your wife suddenly stopped talking to you and you know you didn't do anything wrong you'd be worried too. I mean," He punched at the pads again. "It was my first time, I practiced for it, I read that ero-thing Paul keeps hyping about, I did my research. I couldn't have been so bad that she wouldn't speak to me."

"Maybe she can't." The boxer stopped mid-punch. "What do you mean, she can't?" Marshall stepped closer to him. "It's about Elias."

"Is she in trouble again?"

"She always is, only this time it isn't her fault."

"Does it have something to do with Lars?"

"She works for him."

"She doesn't want to hand him over does she?" Marshall shook his head. "Elias has her faults, but if she decides to ally herself with you, she will not leave you unless you are too far gone for her to save."

"Alright, so she's working for Lars but won't turn him in. Then what?"

"Steve, do you know who hosted this year's Iron Fist tournament?" Steve shook his head no. "Kazuya." The Brit was taken aback. "Jin is dead, at least that's what the rumors say. Why should Kazuya host another tournament?"

"If I knew I'd tell you." The boxer walked to the bench and pulled his shirt off to change. "Let me guess, Leo's running around the city with Elias." Marshall nodded. "And Xiao and Asuka are most likely in for the ride." Again the nod. "I'm going to look for her." said Steve, picking up his bag and starting for the door. The elder Law held him back. "You do that, the whole city will know."

"And how are you so sure?"

"You're Nina's son. Kazuya keeps an eye on all members of the Mishima Zaibatsu, including their families, from Lars to the lowliest guard. Nina works for Lars, and it's highly likely that he knows majority of what you do." Steve stopped and put his bag back down. "Isn't there any way I can at least make sure they're alright?" Marshall looked around the gym, then slipped a small piece of paper into the boxer's hand. "This is Elias' emergency number. Call from a payhone, not your land line or your cell phone. It's safer, for both you and them." It was ridiculously quiet in the gym. Marshall's head pricked up and he nudged Steve. "We must go."

"Is someone here?" He nodded and made for the door. Steve followed and they parted ways at the intersection. "Remember what I said. And don't call it right away. Take a cab and make it go down the back alleys, Little Asia, anywhere. Just make sure you leave a hard trail to follow."

"What about you?" Marshall smiled. "I've been through enough of Elias' misadventures. I'm used to this kind of thing." He hailed a cab and pushed Steve into it. "Take him to his house, but make sure you twist around a bit." He counted out several bills and pressed them into the cab driver's hand. The taxi sped away.

That was the last Steve would see of Marshall for a long time.  
~

"Anything?"

"Nothing." Three days and Elias still couldn't pinpoint Lars' location. Everyone was getting worried, Nina included, though she took care not to show it. Leo sat at the window holding a gun. Ever since a single rifleman had turned up at Xiao's, everyone had taken turns watching, Elias spending nights awake and days asleep until after lunch when she would furiously pound the keyboard. "Hmm."

"What?" Elias stared at the screen. "Marshall. He's using my emergency number."

"You turned your laptop into a phone?" Xiao asked in disbelief. "She created a virus that would send all data from the security cameras to her PC. I figured she'd manage something like this at least once." Asuka replied. Nina said nothing, but sipped tensely at her whiskey. A male voice spoke from the other line. "Elias?"

"Steve?" Asuka rushed to the window and grabbed the gun from the caver. "Go." she said, sitting down. "It was almost time for us to switch shifts anyway." Leo nodded and scampered over to Elias. "Yeah, we're here. Here's Leo." The teen turned the lptop in her direction. "Just speak. It works like a regular phone."

"Steve?" His voice sounded much more relieved. "God, it's good to hear you. I was getting worried. Where are you?" She smiled, and Elias confirmed with a look that she could tell him where they were. "Likewise. We're hiding out at Xiao's for now." said Leo. "Where are you?"

"In a telephone booth somewhere. I'm hoping to get into the Ministry of Magic."

"I think you dialed the wrong number."

"Leo?"

"Hmm?"

"You guys are okay there right? Need any man muscle?" Leo looked over at Elias and Nina. Elias's face was sad and Nina slowly shook her head. "Sorry, Steve, but you can't." Silence for a moment.

"Did Elias tell you to say that?" His voice was quieter. "No, Nina did."

"Nina's there?"

"Yes, I'm here." Nina's alto sailed smoothly through the air. "Uh...well..."

"You're going to stay wherever you're staying. If I catch you following us I'll shoot you." Xiao gulped. Everyone knew it wasn't like Nina to make empty threats. "Alright." Steve sounded like a little boy being told off for cleaning out the cookie jar. "I'll go now. Bye." Leo said her goodbye, and another goodbye followed soon after.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your mother?" Nina's tone was still professional, but you could see she meant what she said. "Bye...mom." He hung up.

It was the first time any of them had heard Nina acknowledge Steve as her son.  
~

That night, a certain green-eyed boy threw stones at Steve's window. "Oh, it's you. How the hell did you find me?" Steve asked him. "I saw you get into the cab, so I followed you." Natsuki replied. "I wish you didn't have to go down all those streets. A bike can only go so far."

"Sorry. Aren't you Lars' kid?"

"I'm not his son. He's my legitimate guardian and I call him Dad, but I'm not his son. I just changed my name."

"Alright, alright. Are you looking for her?"

"Eliana?" Steve nodded. The moon shone in through the window. "I tried everything but I couldn't find her. I went back to Leo's but there were police there cleaning up the place. I had to rush." Steve waved his hand to dismiss the subject. "Get in here before someone thinks you're robbing me." Natsuki hopped through the window and shut it after him. "Do you know where she is?"

"How do I know you're not pulling my leg with all this?" Natsuki pulled a piece of yellowed paper from his back pocket. He gave it to Steve. "That's the form Dad and I had to fill out so he could legally take me in. He saved me from that orphanage, Steve. And I won't forget it." The boxer handed the paper back without another word. "Alright. What do you plan to do?"

"I heard you in the phone booth, along with that line about finding the Ministry of Magic. Good on you for that, by the way." Steve grunted thanks. "Since you have Eliana's emergency number, you can call her up any time you want as long as you can't be traced. I can make several fake phones with different numbers so you can call her and check up on them whenever you want."

"And you?" The teen was silent. "I know you're just as worried about her as I am about Leo." Natsuki sighed and gave in. "A little. But mostly, I want to make sure Dad's alright. I haven't been able to reach him the past few days." A light breeze blew outside, making the leaves rustle. "You and I kinda need each other now, so we'll have to stick together if it's alright with you." Steve nodded. "So tomorrow, I'll come early. I'll throw a stone at your window again, so make sure you don't sleep too deep. Then we'll head for Xiao's. Deal?"

"Deal." Natsuki nodded and turned to go. Something stirred inside Steve, and he held his hand out to stop the green-eyed teen. "Stay here. I'm getting a bad feeling."

"It'll be fine, I'm-" The sound of boots crunching on leaves made Natsuki climb back in through the window and close it. Steve ducked to the side and peeked out carefully.

A tall figure with a red light was standing in the street. The two stayed silent. Soon, the figure walked away. They exchanged a look and it was understood that Natsuki would stay the night. Nobody in his right mind would have risked it after that.  
~

Elias sat quietly at the window. "You're brooding, not watching." murmured a voice next to her. She turned to see Nina's clear blue eyes looking up at her. "Sorry."

"You miss him."

It's amazing how three little words could make you freeze. "Who?"

"Natsuki."

"And what if I am?"

"Don't be difficult." Elias mumbled an apology. Nina sat up. "He's a good boy."

"I know that."

"Accommodating. Smart. Open-minded."

"I know."

"Then what are you denying yourself for?" Elias shrugged. Nina stared at the teen in the moonlight then sat behind her on the ledge. She pulled her blanket from the futon and wrapped it around the both of them. "Don't fall asleep." she yawned before returning to the dreamworld. Elias nodded and stared out the window. She thought about it a long time.

It's just a crush, she reminded herself. Crushes are okay, it's love you have to worry about.

"What are you denying yourself for?" Nina had asked her. Elias didn't really know. He was different from her, he had Lars from an early age; she'd had five foster families and a criminal record. What could she give him, if ever? The criminal record made it impossible to hold a decent job, and if it all didn't turn out the way she planned it and Lars died, she'd be out on the street and back to her old life. What could she give Natsuki that he didn't already have?

'Love.' murmured a little voice in the back of her head. Love. True enough, he didn't have her love yet. Or did he?

Elias sighed and shook the thought out of her mind, reverting once again to the sentinel.  
~

What is love? BABY DON'T HURT ME, DON'T HURT ME. NO MORE.

Back with another chapter of weirdness and a little angst. Weehee. Gotta love coffee. Gotta hate tests. I won't be back until the weekend, I have MTG cards to buy tomorrow and Friday night is girls' night. See you around Saturday or Sunday. :))

And oh yeah, reviews are appreciated here. Reviewers get free hugs. Suki dayo~


	17. Negotiations

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

"Dammit, it's too damned early to get up like this." the caver thought to herself, while looking around for the beeping sound. Elias was unconscious and breathing wetly with her cheek on the table, everyone else was either asleep or semi-conscious like her. The glass next to the blue-eyed teen's head reflected blue light and she got up to have a look at it.

"'Access Granted'?" A hand suddenly shot up and held her wrist in a death grip.

"Did you touch my techno?"

"No, E-li. I just read it." Elias got up and yawned, stretching her arms around to bring some life back into them. She peered at the screen. "HOLY SHIT WE'RE IN!"

"In where?" murmured Xiao drowsily. "We're in Kazuya's systems! I figured it would take long, but not this long. I should have programmed it better." The Chinese girl shook her head at her friend's obvious nerdiness and shook Asuka awake. "Geddup, bitch, our turn to make breakfast."

"Wasn't it our turn yesterday?"

"We bought the groceries yesterday." Asuka sighed and got up to crawl after Xiao's retreating figure. Nina's eyes were still closed, the rest of her body ramrod straight while her head nodded gently back and forth. "Just a few more gates to pass and..."

"And?"

"I am the fucking Queen, dear Leo. Welcome to Kazuya's security system." Several cameras appeared on screen, some showing guards doing menial tasks, a pair playing cards...

"Is she taking it up the ass?" the assassin's voice asked after hearing the sado-masochistic scream. "Yep. Not the first time though." replied Elias, leaning forward to empty the glass but already finding it empty. "You alright, Leo?" The caver's eyes were glued to the screen. "Oi, oi, you're too young." remarked Elias teasingly.

"I'm twenty-two. And you are?"

"Mentally eighty-seven. And sexually more mature than you."

"Oh yeah. Who was your first?"

"He's classified."

"Oh really?"

"Mhm."

"So, what are they fighting about?" Xiao asked Nina after handing her a plate of bacon. "Sexual maturity." she replied. Asuka watched the two bicker a moment then silently slid their share of the food onto the coffee table. "Your sexual maturity probably came from a set of ero-fiction."

"Does not, it was a first-hand experience. I even got an A for it."

"And an F for participation, I'm sure."

"Well, I- what the..." Elias stopped mid-comeback and stared at the screen. "Incoming transmission." she muttered, tapping away on the keyboard. "What do you need us to do?" asked Leo, completely forgetting the fact that they were bickering over sexual maturity. The teen surveyed the surroundings. "Move anything that can suggest where we are behind the laptop. That Ming vase, the dragon figurines, everything." Nina sat down completely at ease and watched the three fighters move everything away. "Ready guys?" Elias asked. Nina finished her drink and the three movers sat next to them. "Receiving transmission."  
~

"Hello, Eliana."

"Kazuya."

"You were in such a hurry to get away last time that I didn't get to entertain you properly."

"I was entertained enough, trust me."

"Always so tense. Well, I heard you were nosing around my systems again so I thought I'd try and make a deal."

"I pity the one who told you."

"Don't worry, he's having a heart-to-heart talk with Jin. Now, about that deal. I'll cut to the chase. If I wanted to kill you, I would have by now."

"You wanted to kill me the night I shot you. I'm still here."

"As am I, my dear. To be honest, you're the only one worth keeping alive out of the five of you." Leo saw the girl's fist shake on the floor. She forced her digits into the mass of flesh. It stopped shaking and tightened slightly around her fingers.

"They're my family now. They stay alive, I stay alive."

"Ohoho, you're getting touchy again. Listen, you have something I want."

"Let me guess, better aim than you?"

"Don't get to smart with me, or I'll send them Jin there to pick you off, and you have two there who can't stand him. All I want, is for you to come with me and hack into this one little website."

"What website?"

"GCFR."

"Global Community Fuel Reserves. What for?"

"I can tell you the details later."

"I know better than to trust you with the fine print, Kazuya. The details."

"Hmph. I need information on the world's fuel reserves. Ever since we ran out of oil and started using biofuel, it's been harder for me to keep things up and running here."

"Money doesn't seem to be a problem for you."

"Oh, but it is. Help me find the reserves, and I just might let your little 'family' get out of this mess safely. I'll give you one day."

With that, Kazuya left the conversation.  
~

"Tell me you won't." said Asuka. Elias didn't say a word, but only stared out the window. "Eat your bacon, Elias." said Nina while handing her the plate. The bolo wielder took it and started munching glumly on the bacon, staring into space. "It not just money he wants those reserves for isn't it?" Xiao asked. The assassin shook her head. "Knowing him, he'll take them all for himself. The other nations might fight at first, but his forces will burn them. Then with nothing else, they'll ally themselves with him. When that happens..."

"Kazuya will rule the world." muttered Leo. she chugged down a glass of Scotch. Nina nodded. Asuka pinched the bridge of her nose. "So what do you plan to do?" she asked Elias. The latter shrugged. "I have a day to think about it."

"Whatever she's cooking up in that Philippine brain of hers, it's probably going to save us somehow, Asuka. And with a day to figure it out, it might just be epic."

"Just believe in Elias." Nina said. The caver nodded agreement and watched Elias stare into space, wondering dimly about what the girl might be plotting in her head.  
~

Steve tied on his hand straps. He'd always thought they were a bother, the way he had to twist them around his fingers so much, but they'd saved him from several fractures when he was younger and stupider, so he'd learned to live with them. "Here." Natsuki tossed him a gun. Steve turned it over in his hand. "Kinda small, don't you think?"

"It's not the size, it's how you use it."

"Are you saying-"

"No, I'm serious. I upgraded that one to be small but deadly." The mechanic held his hand out for the gun which the boxer handed over. "See, you put your hand in through here-" he indicated the hole in the handgrip. "-for support, because this baby tends to dish out damage like woah, so if you don't hold on tight enough, you'll get hurt by the rebound."

"You seriously upgraded this?"

"Yeah. Try it out on something." Steve scanned the room for something testable. His eyes lit on a framed picture of him and Christie that he never really got around to throwing away. It was a gift for a monthly anniversary, those useless things that couples celebrate if in case their relationship doesn't last for more than a year, and though he thought it was kinda crappy at the time he kept it anyway.

Girls can do that to you sometimes.

He aimed the little gun at it and pulled the trigger. It emptied itself of several rounds that left the picture mangled on the wall. "I like it."

"Told you. Just check with me if you run out of ammo." Natsuki picked up his shirt and pulled it back on. "They're still at the dojo right?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." He sighed. Xiao's dojo was up in the more mountainous area of the city, roughly a day or a day and a half away without traffic and if he took the back streets. Natsuki saw the worry and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, they'll still be there when we get there." Steve smiled. "You know, she might want her underwear back."

"She let me keep it." replied Natuski smugly. The two laughed. Later, they found themselves speeding off downtown, unaware that a certain figure with a glowing red light was following them.  
~

Elias ate little at dinner that night, no matter how much Nina tried to tempt her with fish tails. She did nothing but brood and drink whiskey the whole day, and for someone who said she couldn't afford to care about anyone in the business, Nina felt a bit hurt that she couldn't get the feisty teen to eat anything. They all went to bed without saying anything, Elias sat down on the floor next to her futon with her back to her. "Nina..." The assassin pretended to wake up, but she was really listening for it the whole time. "Yes?"

"You know who I am." It was a statement, not a question. "Ever since you started working for Lars." she replied.

"Can you do something for me?" She stared out the window, but Nina thought she saw something shiny roll down her cheek. "What?"

"Can you leave me here? I don't want Xiao, or Asuka or Leo getting mixed up in this. Not even you."

"You know I can't."

"You're not responsible for me."

"I want to be." For the first time that night Elias looked her straight in the eye. "Why?"

"Because you and I are the same." Nina sat up on her futon. "You have a sister you want to protect. So do I, even though I'd like to pummel her into the ground myself sometimes. We both miss our fathers..."

"Is that it? Fatherly affection and a little sibling rivalry?" Nina looked like she was going to explode, Elias could be downright impossible sometimes while brooding. She stared at her as if challenging her to make a move.

And she did.

Elias could smell the whiskey wafting off her, not in a disgusting, half-drunk kind of way, but more like the way a favorite shirt would smell even after you've had it washed several times. She was warm, the whiskey probably heated her up a bit. But that wasn't what was surprising.

Nina Williams. The Nina Williams, Ice Queen assassin of Mishima Zaibatsu, was hugging her.

Hugging her like she didn't want her running away.

"I love you."

"You do?" Nina nodded. "Since when?"

"Since the night you let me into your apartment and offered me a shot of whatever that was."

"I thought you couldn't afford to care about anyone in this business."

"I can't." She hugged the girl tighter. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to." Elias remained impassive. She could feel a damp spot near where Nina was mouthing something into her back.

"You really mean that don't you..."

"Yes..." She nestled into the hug. "I have a plan, but it won't work if you won't help me."

"At least promise me you won't hurt yourself."

"Nina, you know I can't."

"How about this, I promise I'll come home and stay with you since you love me so much. Okay?" Nina nodded. "Good. Don't cry anymore, I'm sorry. Hey look at me," Elias turned around. Two pairs of blue eyes regarded each other in the dim light. "I love you too okay? Please don't cry anymore." She finally returned the hug. The assassin smiled to herself. "Alright, alright, get some sleep." She pulled the blanket over the both of them and let herself slip into the twilight world of dreams.

Next to them, Leo smiled, happy that Elias finally found a mother figure for herself.  
~

And my day of procrastination ends with this. :)) I promised a chapter before the weekend ended right? So there. Not only because I wanted to stop procrastinating and get to work, but also because I really miss you guys when the schoolwork gets boring enough for me to daydream about. XD

It's Monday tomorrow, damn. I wish it were Caturday, so I could sleep like a cat and not wake up until noon. =_= oh well, since it's Monday tomorrow, I just might be able to see him again, or talk to him again, whichever works. Bye for now, suki dayo~ =)))


	18. Salit-salit

"Does the traffic have to be so bad when we're so close?"

"Apparently it does." Steve replied, drumming his fingers testily on the steering wheel. Somehow a fleet of taxis were moving at a snail's pace in front of them. Why they were moving at a snail's pace was far from the minds of both man and boy. If you're in a hurry to get somewhere, you usually don't stop for shit.

"Hey, Steve."

"Yeah?"

"When all this is over, what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know yet, maybe hang out with Leo or Marshall and the guys."

"Spar with me sometime." Steve considered it a moment. "Sure." Natsuki grinned slightly. "So..."

"Hmm?"

"Did she say anything about me?"

"Who?" the boxer asked smugly. "Elian-Elias. Did Elias say anything about me?" Steve smirked. The kid had it pretty bad for Elias. "Other than letting you have that pair of stripes, nope. Not a word. At least," his eyes darted in the direction of the mechanic. "As far as I know."

"Oh." A horn honked in the distance. "You know, Nina talks about you sometimes."

"Me?" That was new. He knew she was his mother, but he'd always thought that she didn't really care that much. Natsuki nodded. "Yeah. Nina-sama used to say something about not expecting someone like you to come from her." That made him smile inside. It almost sounded like the Ice Queen was actually proud of having him for a son. "Is that all she said about me?" The boy cocked his head to one side. "Pretty much, ye-oh fuck."

"What?" asked Steve while looking into the rear view mirror.

A man with spiky hair and a red light near his neck was nimbly jumping across the car roofs towards them. "Is that-"

"Yep. You and I gotta go." Natsuki rolled down a window and slipped out onto the roof, planting a foot on the car window next to him. "Ya little bastard!" the driver yelled at him in a slightly Italian accent. "What's the big idea steppin' on my window like that, huh?" Ignoring the driver's following stream of insults, Natsuki sat on the roof of Steve's car and scanned the area for the man with the red light. "Steve! The guns!" Steve heard and handed him the strap-on guns through the driver's side window. The man loomed nearer. Still ignoring the onslaught of Italian curses flying at him, Natsuki calmly aimed at the figure.

"Alright, motherfucker." His finger danced lightly on the trigger. "Let's dance."

The resounding boom broke several windows. The bullets seemed to have no effect on him. The last of the taxis crept by. "Hold on!" yelled Steve, flooring it as hard as he could. The car burned rubber at the intersection a moment then sped off down the streets like wildfire, Natsuki furiously emptying his guns into the figure. Some managed to hit him, but didn't manage to take him down. The figure launched itself onto a taxi catching up to them. It picked up a spear from the display of a Chinese terracotta soldier and waited. "Steve!"

"What?!" They swerved, as did the taxi. The figure was gaining on them."Switch with me!" The figure jumped again and landed squarely in front of Natsuki. Steve felt the impact and swerved again to throw him off, but not before it stabbed through the roof of his car, missing him by an inch and ripping part of the roof off. "SWITCH WITH ME!" Natsuki yelled desperately. His gun clicked uselessly after emptying the last of the cartridge into the figure. The spear came down...

And embedded itself in the upholstery of the driver's seat. Steve landed a good uppercut that pushed the figure into the light. "Ji-" Jin, furious about the discovery of his identity, launched a fist which he barely managed to dodge. Natsuki threw one last punch then slipped into the driver's seat. Steve exchanged blows with Jin, regretting that he didn't bring the his lucky Kaiser knuckles along. He pulled the spear out of the driver's seat and parried Jin's head with it, cracking the shaft in half. Natsuki drifted across a corner. Jin lost his footing and fell on the boxer. "Goddamnit!" he yelled before moving his head out of the path of another punch.

"Sorry!" Natsuki yelled back before turning a corner into the Chinese quarter. A fist caught him neatly on the left eye. Steve winced as he kicked Jin the stomach. Leo might worry over that later. A fire engine rang in the distance and Steve saw a burning building move closer to them. He started to smile but was broken mid-way when he parried Jin's swing.

A fireworks shop.

"Left! Left dammit left!" Natsuki obediently moved left. Thrusting a fist in Jin's face, Steve reached out his right arm and grabbed a firecracker out of a crate as they sped by. "Towards the fire! NOW!"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"JUST DO IT!" Not knowing what else to do, Natsuki floored it and careened towards the burning tenement. Steve lit the firecracker. "Oi, Angelface!" Jin looked at him menacingly. "SUCKER PUNCH!" The Englishman's left sailed into Jin's groin, eliciting a roar. Steve stuffed the flickering firecracker into his mouth and kicked him with everything he had.

"Happy Chinese New Year!" The red light on his neck drowned in the explosion of red and pink that came from the firecracker. Thoroughly tired, Steve slunk back into the passenger's seat. "Steve?"

"Natsuki?"

"I like your style." They drifted around another corner and sped to Xiao's.  
~

They say that when you've learned what is to feel danger where there is none, you never really sleep. Such a saying never applied to the Mishima Zaibatsu's ice queen. She was like Napoleon; Nina could sleep whenever she wanted and wake up whenever she wished. Blue eyes stared into the dim light of the moon as she heard wheels roll across the pavement. Slipping out of Elias' arms, she picked up her Berettas and stealthily moved to the window. There was an outline of a battered car and two figures stepping out of it. She nudged Elias with a toe. "Wake them up. I have a bad feeling." The teen nodded and shook the others awake. Asuka was on the verge of protesting when she felt the tension in the air.

"Is this it?" she asked Xiao who had finished rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and lay in wait near the door. "Hopefully not." the Chinese girl replied. Caver and bolowielder were sheltered behind the sofa, Nina in the shadows with two fully-loaded Berettas trailed on the door. The silence was deafening.

The knob turned on the other side and everyone held their breath.

"Elias?" The girl froze. Leo cautiously looked over the sofa. "Steve?"

"Oh God Leo is that you?" Nina held up a hand and inched around the room to the door, amking sure to stay out of the outline of the window. "Steven Fox." she muttered.

"Mom." The ice queen relented and opened the door. Steve walked in, Natsuki trailing after him. "Shouldn't you two be off somewhere else?" Xiao asked them. The mechanic shrugged. "Nothing better to do." Steve leaped over the sofa to land between the two. "Hi."

"Kuya, you little shit."

"What'd I do?"

"Nina said not to follow."

"She's my mom, it'll be fine."

"Leo, I'll bet you twenty Nina blows his balls off the moment all this is over." The caver chuckled. "Deal. But make it thirty."

"Twenty."

"Thirty."

"Twenty-five, final offer."

"Just make it thirty."

"Hey, Elia don'tcha think you could come over here a minute?" Asuka hissed. "Jeez, dude, I'm in the middle of a bet here." Elias hissed back. "Natsuki has fish." put in Xiao. Steve and Leo were left alone behind the sofa as the blue-eyed teen made a beeline for the mechanic. "She really did tell you to stay put, you know." said Leo. The Englishman shrugged. "I guess so. Didya miss me or did some kind of girl-love happen in here?"

"Dumbass." She punched his arm. "Alright, alright. But did you?" She didn't look at him. He didn't push it.

"Yeah. Just a little."  
~

"It's been days since I've had real food."

"When was the last time?"

"The day Nina made me breakfast, I think." A mechanic turned medic and a bolowielder shared a bottle of Mountain Dew on the window ledge. The moon was gone now; replaced by stars. Elias had a bit of an energy boost from the fish and Natsuki was still too jumpy to fall asleep, so the two ended up on the night watch. "Let's play something." Elias said after Natsuki let her take the last sip. "Why?"

"So we don't fall asleep on the night watch."

"Alright, what?"

"It's called salit-salit. It's for getting to know people. You know, I ask a question, you answer, then you ask a question..."

"Oh, I get it. Ladies first."

"Since when am I a lady?"

"I don't know...since birth maybe?"

"That didn't count as a question."

"Fine, fine. What was your actual question?"

"Chocolate or vanilla?"

"Chocolate. Strawberries or blueberries?"

"Strawberries. Meat or salad?"

"Meat, 'course. Tall guys or short guys?"

"You're actually interested in that?" Natsuki nodded. She sighed. "Tall guys. Girly girls or bamfs?"

"Bamfs, anyday. Shoujo or shonen?"

"Shonen. Blades or guns?" The mechanic made a face. "Must you torture me?"

"It is my nature." He sighed. "Ah fine. Guns. Douchebags with a little heart left or good guys with a bit of a dark side?"

"Good with a bit of a dark side please. All Time Low or Sleeping with Sirens?"

"You're not making this any easier for me."

"I know."

"Crap. All Time Low. Uh, do you believe in love at first sight?"

"That question wasn't in the proper format."

"You didn't say anything about a format."

"You're impossible."

"Like you." They laughed under their breath so the others wouldn't wake up. Leo was asleep on the sofa, Steve snoring on a futon. Their hands seemed to gravitate towards each other, almost as if they fell asleep holding hands. Elias looked at them a while. "Yeah. I guess I do." Natsuki smiled. "But for other people, not me. My turn."

"Shoot."

"What do you say about tsunderes?"

"That question wasn't in format."

"Neither was yours." They laughed again. "Tsunderes... I like them. It's nice to know that someone actually cares about you even though they beat you up half the time. Why don't you believe in love for yourself?"

"I don't know. I guess it just applies to everyone except me. Do you think taking the plunge is brave?"

"Depends. What kind of plunge are we talking about here?"

"The Schrodinger's Cat kind."

"'The cat can be considered as alive or dead.' Hmm. Yeah. Never know until you try right? Anyhoo, uhh, do you want your panties back?"

"Nah. Keep 'em. Is there anything you want to take the plunge with?"

"Yeah. Wanna know what?"

"Sure."

"I'm going to open the box."

"What box?" He was dangerously close to her now. She felt the sudden need to hold on to something. "This box."  
~

It was nice.

He's asleep. Finally. I can think clearly now. Fuck. Even for all the shit I've been through and the hellholes I've had to come crawling out of, I guess I'm still a teenage girl. I oughta beat him up.

But if I do he might not kiss me again.

It feels nice.

Fuck, just stop thinking about it. I'm supposed to be watching right now, dammit. It was just one kiss. He already gave me an accidental one in the arena a long time ago.

But then, that's the difference. This one wasn't accidental. He really meant it this time.

No. I am going to sit here and WATCH.

Okay, maybe I won't be until I get some of the hormones out of my system. He must really like chocolate. He tastes like chocolate. Dammit, maybe he IS chocolate. He's too damned sweet to be human, that's for sure. But I have to face facts. My future is, well, if I'm not careful, deported back to the Philippines. I love it, and I miss it, but I honestly like it better here. His future, maybe a degree in something, a better job at Mishima Zaibatsu. Maybe a family, with some other chick who isn't me.

But what if it is me?

Crap, I have to stop thinking about it.

Dammit, I can't stop thinking about it.

"Hey, Asuka."

"What?"

"It's two in the morning. Your turn." Yeah, that's it Asuka. Get up from that futon and trade places with me. I'll love you even more.

Huh. I'll think about it more later. I better sleep.  
~

How many centuries has it been?

I've been gone *looks at calendar* roughly a week and a half, I think. Sorry bout that, I had a bit of magazine editing to do. My duties are finished for now, groupmates can handle the articles, the printing and all the other stuff.

And to that commenter a long, long time ago... It wasn't from pixiv. I think I found it on multiplky or tumblr. Just sayin' XD

Read, review/flame. =)) I missed you guys. Suki dayo~

And for those in the know:

Schrodinger's Cat: An experiment where a vial of poison is placed ina box witha cat. The vial's timed to open at a random time. You don't know if the vial broke, so you don't yknow if the cat's alive or not. So the cat is both alive and dead. You won't really know until you open the box.

Need a better explanation? Big Bang Theory, Season 1, second to the last or last episode I think. =)))))))


	19. Third to the Last

Blood isn't exactly the first thing someone wants to taste in their mouth first thing in the morning.

"Ha. Damned bitch. That one was for my hair." The Brazilian landed another kick across her jaw and from the corner of her eye she could see Leo raging in silence next to her.

'Captured and used as a punching bag,' thought Elias before a foot made contact with her cheek. More blood, probably lost a tooth or two. It definitely wasn't easy to forget how she and Leo got caught in the first place.  
~

The fugitives were making plans to move out of Xiao's place. It was only a matter of time before Kazuya found them, and only God knows what Kazuya would do to get his hands on Elias. Natsuki opted for the docks near what used to be Kazuya's island base, since it would be close to danger therefore far from harm. Nina shook her head. "Mishima Zaibatsu. The technology there can help her find out where Lars is." They hadn't heard any news about the sandy-haired soldier since they had gone into hiding; Elias could pull nothing more from Kazuya's systems. "Damned fucking bastard sent me a virus through his interaction," the blue-eyed teen muttered between keystrokes, hissing curses under her breath.

And that was that.

Xiao led them to the garage where Wang Jinrei kept a beat-up blue Ford pick-up. Steve volunteered to drive, Nina wordlessly claiming the passenger's seat for herself and leaving the other four fighters in the back. The Englishman floored it; the pick-up wouldn't start. "Gimme a sec." Natsuki said, jumping out. He squeezed himself between the truck and the road. "Hurry it up, Natsuki." said Nina warily. Her hand was wrapped around a Beretta.

"Try it now." the mechanic replied. The engine revved to life and he hopped into the back again. They rolled away, burning rubber at the intersection.  
~

"I told Eddy to deal with your boy, Ellie."

"Fuck you."

"What was that?"

"FUCK YO-" Her rage was quelled slightly by a fist. Leo looked away.  
~

"Take the next right into the back streets." Nina instructed. They were at the edge of the city by the Italian sector; the Zaibatsu HQ had a secret entryway for employees there. Steve obediently turned into the alley. He looked up after a while to see Nina studying him. "Uh..."

"You look like me." she stated. He wanted to reply that it was natural since she WAS his biological mother anyway, but the sight of her hand on the Beretta made him hold it in. "But you're nothing like me." She rested her chin on a fist. "Those eyes are mine, so is the hair, don't know about the nose..." She shrugged and stared into the distance. "Left here." she said.

"Um, hey..." The assassin's steely blue gaze unnerved him a bit. Elias told him while stuffing her laptop into a bag a while ago that Nina was actually very sweet. He'd never really believed it. For him, Nina Williams being sweet was something like having Darth Vader riding a unicorn pop out of nowhere. Something that only people on weed thought up.

"What?"

"I..." He looked for the right words. "I never thought you'd be my real mom."

"But I am." Her voice was emotionless, as it usually was.

"Yeah." The enigine droned on. "It's pretty cool."

He didn't know it, but a half-smile graced the assassin's lips before her face reverted to its usual mask.  
~

"Where'd Nina disappear to? And where's the half-assed English dork?" The caver seethed quietly in the corner.

"Aren't you late for your porn film rehearsals?" Leo didn't know whether to smile or wince. Fists and feet rained mercilessly on the bolowielder, her dear blade lying uselessly on the floor. She could have gotten it, hacked Christie to ribbons and gotten out with Elias an hour ago if she could just...reach...the...hilt...

"I'm not asking again. Where are they?"

"Do I look like Google to you?"  
~

"What is that?" Asuka asked nobody in particular. They stopped at a gas station for a refill; Wang Jinrei's pick-up barely had a drop of gas in its system. "What?" asked Xiao. The four looked in the distance. In the front seat, Nina's eyes widened and she pulled both Berettas out of their holsters.

"Monteiro." The Brazilian ducked under the shots and pulled out a .09 mm. "FLOOR IT FOX FLOOR IT!" Elias yelled after deflecting a stray bullet with her bolo. "The damn engine won't start!" the boxer yelled back, furiously turning the key in the ignition. Natsuki jumped out, barely dodging another bullet, and slipped under the undercarriage. Asuka jumped off and charged at her. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" A stream of Japanese curses flew in the air as she exchanged blows with Christie. The .09 mm dropped to the ground and she kicked it away before Christie could pick it up. "Asuka leave her!" Xiao yelled. The Mishima shook her head and kneed the Brazilian in the stomach.

"Go! I'll be fine."

"But-"

"I SAID GO!" Natsuki climbed back in and Steve floored it. They left, but not before Eddy came out of nowhere and started beating Asuka. Xiao rushed out and drop kicked him in the face. "JUST GO!" Steve nodded and they were off.

But not before Leo borrowed a gun and shot Eddy in the leg.  
~

Elias lay bleeding on the floor. The Brazilian turned to Leo. "She won't talk."

"And what makes you think I will?" The kick echoed through the room. "You owe me, Kliesen, remember that."

"Really? I don't remember buying any of your porno." Another kick. Christie stepped on her chest and ground her heel into it. "Where. Is. Nina?" The caver smiled and prepared herself for a world of hurt.

"In your ass, having coffee."  
~

"Did you find the signal yet?" Nina asked as they sped off into the city. A policeman yelled at them for running a red light but they weren't paying any attention. They drifted around the corner, cutting off an old Italian lady holding groceries. Natsuki yelled an apology. "Nope. Signal's kaput." sighed Elias, shutting down her laptop when they stopped at an intersection.

"But maybe if you tried again..." Natsuki began.

"You think it's so easy. Besides, how do we know if he still has his phone?" Elias sighed again. Nina muttered something about Lars never giving up his phone for anything. She groaned, revived her PC and started typing again at breakneck speed. "But you're trying again." said Steve. Nina turned to look at her.

"No I'm not." But the blue-eyed bolowielder had already begun to retrace the signal.  
~

"Give it up bitch, I'm not telling you anything." Smack! Leo felt a tooth come slightly loose. One more hit and she could spit it in Christie's face. "Don't be more of a bitch than you really are, Kliesen. You could either tell me where Nina is or..." She looked over at Elias lying unconscious on the floor. "I'll kill her."

"You couldn't kill her even if you tried, priss-ass." Christie shrugged and aimed the 9 mm at the blue-eyed teen. "Try me." The caver sighed. "Fine." Christie smirked and put away the gun. "C'mere." The Brazilian knelt in front of her, brown eyes having none of the warmth that brown eyes are supposed to have. Leo saw Elias wink at her and reach for the bolo.

"Nina is..."  
~

"...fucking bitch!" Asuka felt her arm crack on the pavement as Christie stalked toward her. Eddy finally left to tend to his leg, but Xiao was too exhausted to fight for herself. "Move bitch, she's going to get you." the Chinese girl told her. Asuka paid no attention to her and hoisted her over her good arm. "What are you-"

"You're my best friend. I can't just make a break for it without yo-FUCK!" Blood seeped from her left shoulder. Christie fired again, but Xiao managed to push them both out of the way. "Lesbians." the Brazilian muttered. "Fucking lesbians. Both of you." Asuka moved between them. "Can't you tell a straight chick when you see one ya fuckin' bitch?"

"Tough talk for a schoolgirl with a broken arm and a shot through her shoulder."

"Kinda different to see you not being such a priss-ass. What changed?" Xiao muttered, grasping her side. Christie sneered, and they both knew that it wasn't the old Christie standing in front of them.

"I just got tired of taking everybody's shit."  
~

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" The boxer hit the brakes in surprise, nearly hitting a squad car. "WHAT?!"

"I found him." Nina turned. "You found him?" Leo didn't say anything, but it was obvious that somebody was a bit more excited than they let on. "If nobody took his phone, yeah, he's perfectly fine." A small red dot pulsed on the screen. "Then where is he?" asked Leo.

"That's the problem. He's in Kazuya's main base." The pick-up coasted down the empty street before stopping in front of an Italian cigar shop. Steve rested his head on the steering wheel. "We're out of gas."

"But we just loaded up."

"Not completely, Natsuki. That was only half a tank." Tires squealed in the distance. "They went this way, move it Eddy, move!" the shrill voice yelled. Nina jumped out and motioned them all into a nearby alley. Just before they disappeared into the shadows, Elias tossed Natsuki her laptop and dashed out into the street. "What're you-" Nina stopped his mouth before he could continue. "What is she doing?!" Leo hissed, clawing at her hair. Brakes squealed and a stream of Filipino curses riddled the air. The caver looked around. Shutters were closed; a small boy who had stepped out onto the stoop of an apartment was pulled back in by a woman's hand. Omerta at its best. Elias had told her about it once, when she asked about the little black book she was reading that day...  
~

"What's that E-li?"

"The Godfather, Mario Puzo."

"Is that the one they pulled the gangster movie from?"

"Yeah Leo."

"What's omerta?"

"Hm? Oh, omerta. It's a Sicilian thing. They don't talk much."

"Meaning?"

"They see people throwing shit around, they won't get involved."

"Don't they want to stop it?"

"They do, but sometimes it's more logical to stay away when people throw shit around. You don't wanna get hit by shit."  
~

"GET BACK!" But the Ice Queen was too late. Leo ran out after Elias. Steve started after her, she had better luck stopping him. "No."

"Why not?!"

"Elias is planning something." The three watched as Leo kicked Eddy away from the bolowielder. "What about Leo?" Steve asked, the worry still visible on his British features. Nina shrugged. "She chose to follow. Nothing we can do about that." Natsuki stopped squirming and Nina let him go. "You have her laptop. Can you relocate the signal?" The mechanic nodded. "Good. Let's move."  
~

"Quit it Eddy!" yelled Elias as she ducked under his kick. "I can't." the Brazilian replied. His face was impassive with its eyes covered by shades, but his voice was articulate though a little choked. "Why?" She noticed that Leo had jumped over a fallen trash can to do battle with Christie. "Because I promised myself." His fist caught her across the cheek and Elias sprawled out on the pavement. "After he died, I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"Newsflash, Ed." Elias shoved his fist back in his face and kicked him in the gut. "Something IS happening to her. Look at her." The taller man turned for just a second to look at Christie before Elias pummeled his torso.

Angry.

Violent.

Merciless.

"Is that the Christie you knew, Ed?" He didn't answer. She kicked him harder and he groaned in pain. Christie looked at him for a second, then shook her head and went back to blocking Leo's every punch. "See? She didn't even help you." Elias grabbed the front of his shirt. "Is she the Christie you knew?" Still no answer. She shook him harder.

"IS SHE?!"

"...no..." Eddy shoved her away and kicked her across the jaw and into the pavement. "ELIAS!" The caver tried to tackle him but he caught her square in the face with his foot. Elias lay unconscious on the road. "Took you long enough." muttered Christie. "Get them into the car." She stalked away. Eddy looked down at the bolowielder, thinking.

Christie wasn't the type to be all-out bad. But now... He shook his head.

"She isn't Christie. Not anymore."  
~

"WHERE. IS. SHE."

"I. DON'T. FUCKING. KNOW."

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT, KLIESEN." The caver laughed, the Brazilian hit her again. She spat the bloody dislodged tooth into Christie's face. A bloody hand reached for the blade on the floor. "HOW SHOULD I KNOW WHERE SHE IS, BITCH?!"

"Because I know you hatched a plan with her. You, Nina and that little Filipina bitch I just beat the shit out of. You planned it all, but it was a flop. Where. Is. Nina?!" The hand grasped the hilt, a body rose up off the floor. "Still won't tell me?!" Christie was shaking her like a rag doll now. "Fine."

"Well?"

"Nina..." The Brazilian didn't hear the footsteps.

"...is..." A glimmer of light flashed on the wall, but Christie didn't notice.

"...up your ass."

"DAMN YOU KLIESEN!"

"Oh no." a voice muttered. Christie turned, an expression of pure horror on her face. "Godammit, I made sure you were-"

"What, dead?" Elias' eyes were steely blue and evil. Though Leo was sincerely glad she was alright, she couldn't help but wonder just how many extra lives Elias kept on her person. "Did you honestly think you of all people could kill me?" The blade twinkled in the light. "I made sure!"

"You had one job, Christie." The door creaked open. "Don't try it, kid." Eddy stood in the doorway, his face devoid of any emotion. "Eddy!" Christie crawled toward him like Sadako from the television set. "Do something, she's not human, Eddy, she's not human. Get her..." Elias ignored the exchange and helped Leo up. "She said you planned something..." the caver whispered to her.

"Maybe I did. But it was improvised, I assure you." Christie was still begging at Eddy's feet. "Hurry, Eddy, they're going to get away..." Elias and Leo tottered forward with a little difficulty. Leo heard the blue-eyed teen groan a little. "How bad does it hurt?" The teen smiled reassuringly. "I'll be fine. I managed worse." When Leo's face didn't lose the mask of concern, Elias pulled her into a half-hug. "Don't worry so much, when are you going to learn to trust me?" The caver smiled back.

"I already have." The two stumbled through the doorway, past Eddy and Christie and into the hall. The Brazilian man handed them a small first aid kit. "You're helping them?!" Christie hissed. He nodded. Leo set Elias down on the floor. "Come on," she said, kneeling. "We better fix that arm."

"How could you?!" Christie cried.

"The blue-eyed kid with the black hair talked some sense into me. She was right." Elias looked up at him. He didn't return the look. "You aren't Christie anymore."

"What are you talking about, dumbfuck?! I AM-"

"Shut it." muttered Leo, her voice dangerously low. "Leo, no." Elias pleaded, pulling at her pants leg. "Just shut it." she went on. Her hand balled up into a tight fist. "Don't give me your shit, Klie-FUCK!" Leo kicked her into the cell and closed the door. Eddy locked it, the Brazilian screaming curses on the other side. The caver went back to bandaging Elias' arm. Eddy walked away. "Ed..." Elias began. He put up a hand. "I won't sell you out. I owe you." Something plastic bounced on the floor toward them: a keycard. Eddy's voice echoed down the hall, "You have five minutes before the guards come. Make it fast."

The teen picked up the keycard and Leo finished bandaging the arm. "What about you?" she asked. Leo waved away the question. "I got beat up by Bryan Fury once too, I know how it feels and it didn't feel like this." The screams continued. "Shall we, E-li?" asked Leo.

"Waiting on you, Leo." Elias got up and the two disappeared down the hall.  
~

THE FUUUUUUN HAS ARRAIIIIIIIIVED.

Thank you very much.

After several days of writer's block, one not-so-musical and one prom, I have produced... This. =))) I was originally going to kill Christie off, but I figured I'd let her live. Eddy's been good to me every time I used him during Arcade mode, I owe him. XD

You know what is, read/review, don't flame. I missed you guys, suki dayo~


	20. The Summary on the Back of the Book

"Section Omega, 2:34 PM, Williams, Nina." The metal door slid open and the three walked into the tunnel. "I never thought the Zaibatsu would have a a place like this." Steve mused. "Nobody ever uses it except me anymore. When Jin was still...normal, he used to take this route into the city." said the assassin. The three walked on in silence.

"Natsuki."

"Hai, Nina-sama?"

"You know the way in from here. Move fast." Natsuki scanned the area and nodded, moving quickly down the hall with Elias' precious laptop smothered against his chest. "Is there someone in here?" Steve asked quietly. Nina shook her head. "Then why'd you make him go ahead?" the Brit asked, scratching his head. "He needs to get a connection immediately."

"Oh. For Lars."

"No, for Elias."

"Was that supposed to be sarcastic?"

"Is that any way to talk to your mother?"

"No, really. Is he doing it for Elias or for Lars?"

"Both." They walked on in silence for a while. "Uh, Nina...what's Natsuki's name?"

"Natsuki Joel Alexandersson."

"Lars adopted him?" The assassin smiled. "Nice guess. Maybe you are a bit like me after all." Steve grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yes, Lars found him in a building near the Kabuki district while planting a bomb." They reached a metal door with a retina scanner. Nina pulled down her lower eyelid and didn't flinch when the red light scanned her iris. The door slid open. She entered, pulling the Brit after her. The draft was gone. "Huh. I wonder."

"What?"

"What is it about Natsuki that Elias likes so much?"

"Good, you noticed. It means you're not as dense as the rest of the male population." Steve mentally debated whether he ought to thank her for that comment or stand up for men all over the world, but her finger was dangerously close to her Beretta so he let it pass. For now. "I don't really know what it is she likes about him. You'll have to ask her that yourself."

"Nevermind, then. She'll never tell me."

"She won't even tell ME."

"I don't think she has to tell you for you to know." Nina smiled for just a fraction of a second. They walked into a room with several barrels of what Nina called, 'Every form of drinkable alcohol known to man'. She untapped a barrel. Instead of alcohol, a blue light shone through the tap and onto the floor, revealing a small button, no bigger than his thumbnail. "You said there was alcohol in these," Steve said. Nina stepped on the button and a stack of barrels moved away to uncover the passage to another room. "I lied."

There at the table, surrounded by cans of Redbull, a very haggard mechanic sat decoding C. "It always has to be C, why C? Couldn't it be HTML? Or XHTML? NO. It has to be C." Natsuki muttered to himself. Steve noticed a small door in the corner hanging open and went over to investigate. He poked the wooden door gently. It creaked and showed a very delectable amount of Redbull. "DAMMIT." Steve walked back to the table with a can of Redbull. Natsuki muttered a thank you and grabbed the can, taking a long gulp. "What now?" asked Nina, gently prying the can from Steve's fingers.

"Hey-"

"This code is freakin'out of place! The variables are messed up!" Natsuki groaned. He stopped typing and grabbed for the Redbull again. The boxer winced at the thought of having his Redbull half-finished without him even having a sip. "But you CAN fix it, can't you?" Nina asked, not wanting to believe that her protege couldn't figure out a few snippets of code. She couldn't either, but that wasn't the point. She held her hand out for the Redbull. Steve stared at her incredulously. Her eyes widened as she reached for the can, her other hand drifting towards her gun. He sighed and handed it over. Nina took a swig and gave it back. He shook the can and sighed again.

One drop of Redbull isn't the same as having the whole can.  
~

An hour and several cans of Redbull later...

"I got it."

"Really?"

"N-Nina-sama, I g-got it!" Natsuki was shaking like mad. A small red light glowed on the screen. It was faint, but it was there. "Well, where is it?" Steve asked. The mechanic zoomed in on the location. "I have no idea where the hell this place is." Steve's gentle push rolled him away from the screen. "Hey, I know this place."

"Where?" Nina was at his side now. And her face turned grim.

Marshall's.  
~

"Since when does Mishima Zaibatsu store cars this good in a place like this?" Steve asked after drawing his hand over a shiny black Audi. Nina shrugged and threw him the key. "They've been there as long as I can remember. Take a picture Natsuki, it'll last longer." The mechanic was staring, mouth agape, at the long line of automobiles. BMW, Ford, Mitsubishi... Steve could just imagine him staying in there to take every car apart on by one, maybe even take a picture of them for his Facebook or tumblr. He shook his head and dragged Natsuki back by his shirt. "So what are we taking? I've got my eye on-"

Being bitchslapped is one thing; being bitchslapped by your mother is completely different.

"We're not taking a car."

"Sorry."

"We're taking a helicopter." Steve's eyes widened. "Well. Come on," he tugged on the drooling mechanic. "When all this is over you can come back and ride them all you want." They trailed off after Nina into the hangar.  
~

"Do you even know where you're going E-li?" Leo asked the bolowielder after passing by the same fire alarm the fourth time. "'course I do."

"How are you sure?"

"W-well, I..."

"You...?"

"How can I explain... I may have kinda, sorta..."

"Elias, what did you do?"

"I may have been the one who...uh...well not exactly provided...provided is the wrong word..."

"ELIAS WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I may have made the blueprints for this place."

"You made this."

"Yes."

"This big-ass building."

"Yes."

"You're fifteen."

"Sixteen."

"You're a kid."

"Teenager."

"How could you make all this?" She waved an arm around like she was selecting the whole base. "This place used to be a drug lord's hideout. He paid me good, surprisingly clean money just to draw out the plans."

"You will tell me about that later." It was obviously an order, and the bolowielder knew it. They passed by the fire alarm for the fifth time. "Okay, E-li, we've been going past that fire alarm for the past-"

"Correction. It's the same fire alarm, but we're not in the same place. Listen." Elias strolled to a wall and knocked on it. "Whadaya hear?"

"A wall being tapped on."

"Good. How about now?" Her fist rapped on the opposite wall. "It sounds... weird, somehow."

"Ayan, natututo na kapatid ko."

"What does that mean?"

"U-uh, it means you're learning. Kapatid means friend." Something didn't add up, but Leo thought it would be best to keep that to herself for now. She'd have plenty of time to worm it out of Elias when all this was over. "Pull that fire alarm if you please."

"Are you fucking kidding me E-li?! You'll call the guards-"

"I thought you already learned to trust me." She said it like it was a joke they shared, but you could hear some hurt behind it. Leo looked at her a while then pulled the lever down. The wall slid open to reveal a door. "See?" Elias started in. "You gotta learn to trust me, sister." The caver shook her head and headed off into the wall after her.

"Alright fine, you want me to learn how to trust you?"

"Oh no, I want you to eat shimapan."

"What the hell's shimapan?"

"It's a Japanese bread. It's a favorite worldwide."

"Shima-that's not the point!" They were jogging up the spiral stairs. It made Leo think of that episode of Spongebob Squarepants where they went off to save Princess Pearl from Planktonomore's jellyfish dragon. "You know pretty much everything about me."

"Objection!" Elias pointed a finger at her like Phoenix Wright, not stopping her jog up the stairs. "I know your name, address, color preference, fight style, family history, love story, and Facebook password."

"Isn't that, wait, how do you know my Facebook password?"

"Weren't you going to ask me about something more relevant than Facebook passwords?"

"Yeah. I was going to ask you if you could please tell me an itty bitty teen tiny little thing about yourself." That made them both stop. "I thought I said-"

"I didn't ask for everything. I asked for a little." You could have heard burgers flipping at the McDonald's halfway across the country in that silence. "How little are we talking here."

"A little background. A plotline, like the summary on the back of a book. Then I'll shut up about you and your past until after we get out of this mess." the bolowielder thought about it a minute and Leo thought she'd tread on thin ice. She was about to take it back when...

"Fine. You want to know a little background? I'm a sixteen-year-old bastard working a part time job at Mishima Zaibatsu. I earn minimum wage, play Dragon Nest, and love sleeping in on weekends. I'm only here to finish what started with Papa. That's who I am Leo." Elias looked up at the rest of the stairs. "Come on, the sooner we finish the better." The bolowielder sprinted up the stairs with renewed energy, leaving Leo to stare after her.

She called herself a bastard. Not like she regretted it, but like it was a privilege. In the back of her mind, Leo wondered whether it was true.

The caver shook her thoughts back into order and shot up the stairs after Elias.  
~

Summer has begun, and I am back, ladies and gentlemen~ *cue male back-up singers crooning a parody of 'Roxie' from the 2002 movie Chicago, All Rights Reserved* But then, it's not all fun and games... oh wait it's summer OF COURSE IT IS. Come, let's party hard and eat all the food like we'll never get fat again! XD

Suki dayo~


	21. Truth comes out

Kazuya stared at the monitor, noting Christie Monteiro's mental deterioration. "I was expecting a breakdown, but not like this." His eyes turned to another monitor. Eddy was strolling down the hall past some other guards like he hadn't just locked someone in solitary confinement. Just next to that screen was Lars hanging from the ceiling in chains. He grinned. It was deeply satisfying to see the enemy trussed up like a turkey. "Who'd have thought that Eddy would be the one to do her in." The red button near his finger looked just oh-so pressable...

"Meh. He's expendable." The button was pressed and he moved to the microphone. "Will Eddy Gordo please make an appearance at Sector 9 for his physical? Thank you." Eddy listened to the announcement, shrugged, and walked off and away from the security camera. Kazuya soon heard his soldiers whispering to each other as soon as Eddy left...

"...a physical? Holy shit, and I liked him better than that Monteiro bitch."

"Why? What's with the physical?"

"Don't you know? Jesus, this guy's probably new. He doesn't know what really happens at physicals."

"That's just shit. Somebody tell him, hey you, Donny, you tell him."

"Listen kiddo and you listen good. Has the boss ever sent you to a physical?"

"Well yeah, when I first got hired."

"What sector did he send ya to?"

"Sector 7."

"Where did he send Gordo off to?"

"Sector 9. Don't they do physicals there too?" Kazuya smiled at the rookie's innocence. He'd learn soon. Oh, how he'd learn. "Well, kiddo, if the big bossman sends you to Sector 9 for a physical, if you were a smart guy you'd get the fuck outta here. Get disappeared."

"Why?" Kazuya said the words along with the older man, it was something his troops were used to under his command. "The girls there..."

"...who do the physicals..."

"...actually cut the damn thing off..."

"...and then ..."

"...they..."

"KICK YOUR PRISSY LITTLE GIRL ASS BACK TO THAT SHITHOLE WHERE IT CAME FROM!" Kazuya yelled, firing a gun at the bolowielder who had sprung out of the secret door. "DON'T CALL MY COUNTRY A SHITHOLE, NUMB NUTS!" she screamed back, sending the bullets he fired ricocheting back at him. "Well, surprise surprise," Kazuya began, getting up from his chair. "Aren't you-"

"Eleonore Kliesen, but I'd rather you called me Leo." Her fists flew forward and managed to hit him across the cheek at least once, judging by the way his head bounced slightly from side to side. "You're Emma's girl, right?" Kazuya asked, still blocking as many of her hits as she could. "I figured so. Same eyes, same hair... I wonder if you'll beg for mercy just like-"

"SHADDAP DU HURENSOHN!"

"Pretty dirty mouth you've got, didn't your mother-"

"Yeah, she taught me not to give in to mindless sicko shitheads like you!" Leo sent her steel-toed boot into his face with enough force to shatter his nose... at leasst it would have shattered his nose if the damned Mishima hadn't moved. "'Mindless sicko shithead'? That just hurts, Ellie."

"MY NAME IS LEO DUMBFUCK! E-LI WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" The bolowielder was fiddling with the knobs on the control panel, mumbling things she couldn't hear into the mic. "Goddamit you Filipina bastard! Get the fuck away from-" Elias got up and swung her bolo across his chest then kicked him nearly halfway across the room. "You say 'bastard' like it's a bad thing," she said. She was serene, like fighting off heads of evil corporations was part of her everyday routine. "Leo, play with him a while. I'm going to mess around a bit."

"What're you going to do?"

"Let's say I'm gonna bring down the house." She gave the caver her precious bolo. "Use that if he gets too fussy." Elias sat back down and messed with more knobs. Kazuya was coughing up blood, but managed to get up easily. "I wonder if she knows, Eliana." The bolowielder stopped dead, eyes wide and a blank expression on her face. Leo didn't know what the hell was going on in her head, but somehow she felt that it wasn't good.

"No, Mishima-san. She doesn't know." Her voice was still serene, but you could feel tension boiling under the surface.

"Oh? She doesn't?" Kazuya laughed. "What's he talking about E-li?" the caver asked. She was already a bit more than freaked out. "Just rough him up Leo." Elias replied, though her eyes were still wide and she wasn't fiddling with the control panel. "I'll tell her then. You probably lied to her, Eliana."

"I haven't lied to her. Not yet."

"You just haven't told her the truth. How many times have I heard that one?" Kazuya went on, his stare and manic smile piercing into the caver. "E-li..."

"Don't listen to him Leo. Remember, you've got to trust me."

"How's she going to trust you? She has no idea who you REALLY are." With that, Elias sprang from the chair and was slashing at Kazuya with the bolo. "Mess with the control panel, Leo! Once it malfunctions the whole base goes down!" Elias yelled between slashes. The caver nodded and started fiddling around. Kazuya's mocking voice sailed through the air like a poisoned arrow between Elias' slashes...

"Leo Kliesen, do you know who Eliana is?"

"TUMAHIMIK KA PUTANGINA MO!"

"She's a prostitute's bastard daughter from the Philippines-"

"LEO DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

"-the biggest coward God ever bothered to breathe life into-"

"PUTANGINA MO KAZUYA! PUTANGINA MO!"

"-and here's the clincher, Kliesen. Eliana here is the one and only reason-"

"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! MAGSAMA KA NG LAHI MO SA IMPYERNO!"

"-that your dear ol' dad is dead under the sands of a Palawan beach." Kazuya had locked Elias' blade with a sturdy knife he pulled out of nowhere.

The minute you know someone you love is dead, even though you haven't seen them in years and thought they were dead, your heart will stop for just a second, but it'll feel like a lifetime passes by before it starts working again.

Her father, her Papa, dead.

And Elias knew.

Was that what she had been trying to hide? All this time, she knew her only family was dead and she didn't say a word?

"Leo, please..." She turned to look at the teen. She knew. All this time. Elias' face was marble but her eyes pleaded with her like it was the only thing that mattered most in the world. As if from some faraway place, Leo heard the words...

'When are you going to learn to trust me?'

Her mind was made up. Leo stepped away from the control panel, noting how Kazuya grinned and Elias' face dropped its marble composure. She turned around...

...and dropkicked the control panel with everything she had left. "YOU BITCH!" Kazuya yelled after seeing smoke float up from the broken machinery. "No. I don't know who E-li is. I don't know who she is or why I'm even helping her with this." She lunged at Kazuya and pummeled him with her fists. "I don't know why I even stuck with her for so long, even though I barely knew who she was." Elias removed her blade and stabbed the cursed Mishima through Leo's punches and kicks.

"But I do know one thing." Together, they threw Kazuya against the glass window, hard. The glass broke and sent him flying into the open air. Leo jumped out after him and forced his head down, her weight combining with his to make them sink through the air faster.

"I have to learn to trust her."

Leo felt something bump into her back seconds before they made impact with the helipad below.  
~

"Remind me again why we're taking a helicopter?" Steve asked, looking a little green.

"Because Marshall's was sending a fake signal, the way Liam Neeson did in Taken." Natsuki replied. The three were flying to the island base in the helicopter they stole from the hangar. "Shit." Nina muttered. Lars' signal was still beeping, but getting weaker, but somehow that wasn't what was worrying her. "Natsuki, make this thing fly a little faster won't you?!" The mechanic nodded and fiddled with the controls. The ice queen turned toward Steve and threw him a gun. "Can you shoot?"

"Does shooting ducks count?" She sighed. "It'll do. Make sure you aim straight." She looked at the island in the distance.

Lars was going to owe her a raise for this.  
~

"Ahh, fuck, what the hell...E-li?" She saw the hand lying limp just inches away from her face and got up. "Elias? HOLY FUCK, ELIAS!" Now she knew what bumped into her on the way down. Elias must have jumped out the window and fallen towards them both and...

Oh God.

"Please...please don't die on me here..." The caver pressed a finger to her neck. There was a pulse, but it was weak. Leo sighed and hoisted the unconscious teen's arm across her shoulder. She had just managed to stand up when she saw the gleaming tip of a bolo nearly make contact with her throat. Jin stood there, devil wings stretching out of his back. Somewhere between the concern for Elias and the oh-God-we-are-so-fucked feeling, Leo noticed that his neck didn't have a red light anymore.

"Put her down." It was the first time she had heard him speak, and instincts told her to do as the devil-man said. The caver gently lowered the body to the ground. "Why don't you just kill us both and get it over with?" she asked him. Jin didn't answer, but the blade never moved from her throat. "Well?! KILL ME."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I need you." Well that was new. Leo stood there, uncomprehending. "Oka-san can't help me," Jin continued. "She only managed to save me once, and that didn't remove the gene."

"So why-"

"Let me finish." There was enough authority in that voice to make her shut up. From somewhere in the distance she could hear something whirring. "Look at me. I am... a curse. An abomination. I can never have my peace as long as I live." He unbuttoned his dress shirt to show a bomb. "I killed Azazel; I wasn't freed. I have this crazy idea, though. It might not work, but I can at least try."

"And what is that?"

"I'll have the someone who suffered because of my bloodline kill me. That way I can make up for the shit my family has done all these years." His family...

"Wait. Where's Kazuya?"

"Dead. You didn't finish him off, so I did it for you. I hope you don't mind." He shrugged like he didn't really care. Maybe he didn't care a bit. "But why does it have to be me?"

"Because you were the most available. Think about it: if I went around the world gathering everyone who suffered because of me and my family, the whole thing would get out of line. But if I picked the one most affected and most available, meaning you, then you'd be the only one I'd have to control."

"So you planned all this? You planned having my friends get hurt and Kazuya making a mess just to have me kill you?" He nodded. "Will you do me this one favor, Leo Kliesen?" He held out his hand. There was a small remote on it, with a single, ominous, red button. It was tempting. He did owe her. But she still couldn't decide. "Let me ask you something first..." Jin made no move to stop her.

"Who killed my mother?"

"Kazuya."

"Then I have no reason to kill you."

"But I-"

"I know. You planned it all so that I'd have every excuse to kill you. But I don't want to. Nobody deserves to die." Jin's hand recoiled and he turned away. "Is that how it's going to be?"

"That's how it has to be." He nodded. "I'm sorry, then." He raised his hand, one callused thumb poised over the ominous red button. Leo saw his intention and made to run. "I'm very, truly sorry, Leo Kliesen."  
~

The helicopter landed on the roof and Nina jumped out. "Natsuki, you watch our ride, make sure no one gets past you. Steve, you're with me." She kicked down a door and made her way in, Steve's heavy footsteps thumping in after her. "Did you bring the reciever?" she asked, shooting down the guards who noticed their entrance. The boxer nodded. "Good. Where is he?"

"Two rooms away. Security's tight, but I don't think that'll be a problem," Steve replied, gunning down the next wave of guards. Nina smiled. He really was her son; his aim was almost as good as hers. Almost. "Come on, this way." Nina tugged on his shirt and he followed her down the halls to a solid metal door. "Alright this is it." The signal was strong behind the door. Somehow he thought it'd be a little harder than this. "Don't rest easy just yet, Stevie. We have to get through the room's inner security first."

"Inner security?"

"I worked for Kazuya a long time. He's a big fan of security." Nina shot the keypad to bits and the door slid open. "Cover me," she muttered, handing him both her Berettas. More guards came charging down the hallway. Steve was starting to enjoy himself. Maybe being an assassin was more fun than it looked. He got a perfect headshot on one guard and wondered if Nina saw.

She didn't. Inside the room, Nina saw Lars hanging from the ceiling like a plucked turkey. As a precaution, she crumpled up a piece of tissue she kept in her pocket and threw it across the room. Nothing happened to it and the crumpled ball lay just a few feet away. "Don't bother, Nina, every trap in here's been disabled." Lars called from the ceiling. Nina shrugged and ran over to get him down. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked. "And where the hell are your clothes?!"

"Is that a blush I see on your face, Miss Williams?"

"Don't be coy now, Alexandersson, what the hell did they do to you?" He shuddered and she decided not to pry just yet. "Come on." She got up to go, but thought of something and grabbed the chains that used to hang Lars from the ceiling. "Hey, w-what are you-"

"Relax, you'll be fine." She made a few twists and turns, then dragged the half-Mishima out the door. "What took you so-"

"Hi. You must be Steve. I'm Lars." Nina took her guns back and started to shoot down the rest of the guards. "Y-yeah I'm Steve. Where are your clothes?"

"Don't ask."

"Come on you two, we still have to find-" Nina began when they felt it. An explosion so strong the building shook. They heard something crash and waited a while; no more guards came. "What the hell was that?" Lars wondered. Nina scouted forward. The ceiling had come down along with the outer wall, blocking off the flow of guards. She peered out the hole in the wall and looked down.

A shiny bolo was wedged in a crack. She reached down and pulled it out to take a look at it. It was definitely Elias' blade.

"Fuck." Nina sheathed her guns and ran back to the two men she left behind. "We have to get back to Natsuki."

"Fuck it, Williams, what are you doing with that-"

"Your little agent just blew a hole in Kazuya's base." Lars was lumbering along under the weight of the chains around his waist. "The shade?"

"I guess I have a lot of explaining to do. That can wait right?" He nodded. There were more important things to worry about as they rushed back to the helicopter.  
~

"Ahh fuck, not again..." There was smoke everywhere and Leo remembered that Jin blew himself up like a kamikaze bomber. She rose to her knees and crawled through the smoke...

And felt a semi-charred arm blocking her way. The smoke cleared and the caver could see the person who saved her ass from being blown to the moon fall to the scorched concrete of the helipad.

"E-li!" The teen didn't respond. Leo cradled her head in her arms like a child. "E-LI!"

"Don't be so noisy, I'm nearly deaf from that blast." Her voice was weak, but it still had her humor in it. "E-li, you fucking bitch, how could you just-"

"I told you to trust me, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but-"

"You remember everything Kazuya said in the control room? Most of it was true, except for some stuff he left out."

"Alright, alright, stop it, just shush." Leo could feel tears running down her cheeks again. Dammit, Elias just managed to make her cry sometimes. "Everything you have to tell me can wait until later, when you're not dying."

"Aw, sweetie, people are dying the moment they're born." One charred hand covered hers. "And what I'm going to tell you can't wait, because if it does wait I won't be able to tell you."

"No, it can wait! I promise you it can wait! Just please..." Leo grasped the teen's wrist. Her pulse was getting fainter. "Leo..."

"Shush. Just please, shush."

"I'm not going to shush until I tell my sister that I love her." Two pairs of blue eyes looked at each other. "W-what?"

"I'd love to explain now, but I'm just so...tired..."

"NO! DON'T GO TO SLEEP!"

"I'll be fine...in a few minutes..."

"E-LI IT'S NOT FUNNY! DON'T GO TO SLEEP!" Her voice was cracking and she was rocking back and forth with Elias lying limp in her arms. "'night, ate..."

"E-li..." A peaceful smile graced the teen's burnt face. "...l...lo...ve...you..."

Her eyes closed.  
~

And that, is what happens when I'm on a sugar high. Want some? *offers ice cream through the internet* Since I was gone a hell of a long time due to Internet problems, I stocked up on caffeine and sugar to produce two chapters in one night. Because I just missed being on and I don't want to go to college entrance exam review classes just yet. :))

So it looks like our little E-li baby's going to be out of action for a while... I dunno. The future's not writ in stone; maybe I'll let her live.

Datte, datte, datte... suki daisuki~


	22. Yan-yan

She shot up straight, then lay back down trying not to scream. God, her body hurt. What the hell... oh right. "How many centuries has it been?" Elias whispered to no one in particular. "A month." She turned to look at the speaker. It was Leo, leaning against the wall of her hospital room. She looked like she hadn't slept. "A-a month?"

"Yeah. This is Mishima Zaibatsu's hospital ward. Lars got you in. Those skin grafts you have are from him too." Elias mentally reminded herself to thank him later. "Where's Nina?"

"With Lars. She left you some whiskey around an hour ago." Christ, she was going to be in for it when Nina got back. "What about Asuka and Xiao?"

"They were discharged two days ago with casts. They were here this morning."

"Tiyo Marshall?"

"He left you some of that adobo stuff a while ago. Natsuki's been coming here every chance he gets, Steve's at home since it's my turn to watch you tonight." There was a brief moment in time where for once, Elias had no idea what to say. "So, how about yo-"

There are two kinds of slappers. The first are the movie slappers. All sound, no pain. Then there are bitchslappers like Leo. Plenty loud, plenty pain. Especially when your face is still a bit raw from a burn. "WHAT'S THE BIG FUCKING IDEA PULLING THAT STUNT YA LITTLE BITCH?" Elias said nothing, just stared at her. "I COULDN'T SLEEP WORRYING! YOU'VE BEEN CRITICAL FOR TWO FUCKING WEEKS! YOUR HEART RATE DROPPED TWICE AND EVERYBODY WAS PANICKING LIKE CRAZY!"

Still no response from the teen.

"AND YOU JUST WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND SAY, 'How many centuries has it been garblarglblargl'. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO WATCH SOMEBODY SEEMINGLY DIE AND NOT BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING?! HUH?! DO YOU?!" Leo screamed at her. Elias smiled. Not the expected response, but okay.

"You do care. That's cute."

"I WORRY MY ASS OFF FOR A MONTH AND THAT'S ALL YOU SAY?! THAT'S CUTE?!"

"Yeah."p She would have said more if the said caver hadn't latched on to her. "You heartless bitch..."

"Oi, oi, I do recall saving your ass-"

"Not before making me worry it off." Leo sniffed. "Hey, are you actually crying?"

"No, I'm slobbering over you with my eyes."

"Grabe ah. I'm sorry, alright? I'm not used to having people give shit about me, okay?"

"...not give shit about you, my ass. Tell that to Nina, see how far it gets you."

"As far as China, I think." Elias looked down at the blonde still hanging onto her like a leech. "Come on, on the bed."

"What?"

"I said I'd tell you after we got out of everything okay, remember?" Leo shrugged her boots off and hoisted herself up. "It might be rated NC-17."

"Knowing you, E-li, that'd be normal."  
~~

I was born in Palawan, in a hut on the beach. They said I was different from other babies because I came out with my eyes open, but I don't think that was the only reason why. My mom was a hooker. The polite term was, 'kalapating mababa ang lipad', because unlike doves, whores don't really fly as high as they hope to. The Philippines has its share of whores, God love them all. A lot of girls in the country who have their whole lives ahead of them grow up only to be whores; some college girls even sideline as hookers for extra cash. Mom was one of the girls who were smart but didn't get to go to school. Not that many job opportunities for you if you don't get at least one diploma.

Since I was the only child, she spoiled me every chance she got. It's a custom in the Philippines where you add, "po" or "opo" to your sentences when you're talking with someone bigger than you. Not literally bigger, you know what I mean. Mom never told me about that. I only learned about the existence of "po" and "opo" when I was eight.

She didn't want me to know she was a hooker; she hid it from me until the day she died.  
~

"Mama, bakit dito ulit ako matutulog?"  
(_Mama, why am I sleeping here again?)_

"May trabaho ang nanay, sweetie. Aabutan ako ng siyam-siyam eh kung sumama ka hindi ka na makakatulog."  
_(Mommy's got work tonight, sweetie. I'll be up all night; if you come along you won't be able to go to sleep.)_

"Eh ma, sama akoo!"  
_(But ma, I wanna come too!)_

"Hindi pwede, sweetie. Dito ka na lang muna sa tito mo, ha? Eto, isama mo yung stuff toy mong si Menggay. Babalik naman ako bukas para isundo ka, okay? Love you anak."  
_(You can't come sweetie. Just stay here with your uncle, okay? Here, take your kitty stuffed toy with you. I'll be back tomorrow to come get you, okay? Love you.)_

"Love you mama."  
~

I didn't know that "Tito" was Papa. I should have guessed though. Seemed like mom only trusted me with him, and that should count for something. He was very nice to me, always feeding me fish and the occasional strudel. He even taught me how to read in both English and Tagalog and to speak English. I don't know when I started calling him 'Papa' for sure; he deserved it. He was the only father figure I had.  
~

"Papa?"

"Hm?"

"Why does mama go off every night and leave me here with you?"

"You don't like it here with me?"

"No, it's not that. I mean, she could always take me with her on her jobs. I could help out a little."

"Your mother's a good woman. Good women don't want their kids making money for them. After all, you're only three."

"I'm four, Papa."

"Oh right right. You're growing up too fast, Elya. I got you something."

"What? Hey, you got me that book I wanted! Thank you Papa!"  
~

The year after that, Mom left me with Papa one night and turned up dead a few days later. I still remember what she told me before she left that night.  
~

"Paabot naman ng lipstick, Yan-yan o."  
_(Yan-yan, please pass me my lipstick.)_

_"_Mama, babalik ka bukas?"  
_(Mama, are you coming back tomorrow?)_

"Oo naman, bakit?"  
_(Of course, why?__)_

"Wala kang trabaho?"  
_(You don't have any work?)_

"Wala naman yata. Gusto mo mag-swimming tayo?"  
_(No, I don't think so. Want to go swimming?)_

_"_Ah ma, kasi..."  
_(Ah ma, see...)_

"Ano? May problema ba?"  
_(What? Is something wrong?)_

"Di naman. Magtatanong lang sana ako kung bakit sa gabi ka nagtatrabaho, di tulad ni Ate Bi."  
_(Not really. I was just going to ask why you work at night, not like Ate Bi.)_

_"_Mas madali magtrabaho sa gabi, anak. Mas malamig."  
_(It's easier to work at night. It's cooler.)_

_"_Ah. Eh ma..."  
_(Ah. But ma...)_

"Ano?"  
_(What?)_

"Bakit laging may kasama kang lalaki?"  
_(Why do you always have a guy with you?)_

"Mga kliente ko iyan. Sa kanila ako nagtatrabaho."  
_(They're my clients. I work for them.)_

"Hindi talaga pwede kitang tulungan sa trabaho ma?"  
_(I really can't help you out with your job ma?)_

"Anak, dapat lang magtrabaho ako mag-isa dahil, una, ayokong nagtatrabaho ka sa edad mong iyan. Bata ka pa, dapat nag-eenjoy ka. Pangalawa, hindi mo magagawa ang trabaho ko, at hindi ako papayag na gawin mo ang trabaho ko. Mas bagay sa yo yung trabaho may mataas na bayad, yung para sa matalino. Magaling kang bata, hindi lang dahil sa anak kita, kundi sa marunong kang gumawa ng paraan. Astigin ka, hindi ka takutin tulad ng ibang mga bata sa tabi. Halika, dito ka sa harap ng salamin."  
_(Look, I'm supposed to work by myself because, firstly, I don't want you working at your age. You're still young, you should be out enjoying yourself. Secondly, you won't be able to do my job, and I won't let you do my job. You're better suited to a job that offers a high salary, a job for smart people. You're a good kid, not just because you're my daughter, but because you know how to make a way. You have confidence, you're not a scaredy-cat like the other kids around here. C'mere, look in the mirror.)_

"Anong meron ma?"  
_(Why ma?)_

"Tingnan mo ang mata nating dalawa. Ano nakikita mo?"  
_(Look at our eyes. What do you see?)_

"Uhh, iba kulay ng mata mo, ma. Blue yung akin, brown yung sa yo."  
_(Uhh, your eyes have a different color. Mine are blue, yours are brown.)_

"Yun lang?"  
_(Is that all?)_

"Uh, mas malaki yung sa yo?"  
_(Uh, yours are bigger?)_

"Pwede na, pero hindi lang iyon. Kita mo mata ko, wala nang kabuhay-buhay, parang mata ng patay. Ngayon, ang mata mo, may kislap, lalo na pag ngumiti ka. Patay na patay siguro sa yo ang magiging boyfriend mo."  
_(That too, but that's not the only thing. Look at my eyes, they're lifeless, like a dead person's. Now your eyes, they have a spark, especially when you smile. Your future boyfriend will be crazy about you.)_

"Ehh maa."

"Oo na, biro lang. Alam mo kung bakit yung mata mo may kislap at yung akin wala? Hindi? Kasi lahat ng kislap ko, binigay ko na sa yo."  
_(Alright, I'm just kidding. You know why your eyes have a spark and mine don't? No? Because all the spark that I had, I already gave to you.)_

"Bakit ma? Ayaw mo ba?"  
_(Why ma? Don't you want it?)_

"Siyempre gusto, pero mas gugustuhin ko na mapunta ang kislap ko sa yo. At tsaka, hindi kailangan sa trabaho ko ang mata na may kislap. O ha? Mag-behave ka kay Tito, sunduin kita bukas tapos mag-swimming tayo sa beach. Okay?"  
_(Of course I want it, but I'd like it better if my spark went to you. Besides, my job doesn't have any use for eyes with sparkle. Okay? Behave at Tito's, I'll pick you up tomorrow then we'll go swimming at the beach. Okay?) _

"Okay ma."  
~

We never did go swimming. The police said she died because her date for the night was a druglord and carried around a vial to make his girls more docile. He gave her too much and left me without a mom. The funny thing is, I didn't cry. You'd expect a four-year-old to cry a river at something like that, but I didn't. Papa didn't have her buried; the two of us pushed her out to sea in a boat. I left my Menggay with her. Even though grown-ups and kids alike asked me questions about mom, stuff along the lines of, "You must miss her a lot, huh?" and "What are you going to do now that you don't have a mommy any more?", they couldn't get me to even cringe at the thought. For a long time, I thought I was some kind of monster.

Then Papa took me in.  
~

"Papa."

"It's late. Why are you still up?"

"I can't sleep. Can I borrow a book?"

"Alright, but don't stay up too late. I have a copy of Stephen King's 'IT', Conceptual Physics, Fellowship of the Ring, The Godfath-hey, what's wrong?"

"M-m-mama died. T-t-that's what's wrong. She said we'd go s-swimming and-"

"Shush now. It's alright. Your mom's still here."

"N-no she's n-not."

"She is. Think about it this way: people are made of 90% stardust. Stardust makes up a lot of things, the air we breathe, the ground we walk on, the flowers in the forest that smell like perfume. Your mom's stardust too. So when she died, her stardust just moved on to other things. So every time you miss your mom, just think that her stardust is still hanging around taking care of you."

"I don't m-mind that, b-but..."

"What?"

"I think I liked mama better when she wasn't stardust."  
~

He was a wonderful guy. He always told me about you.  
~

"Papa, who's that girl in the photo?"

"That's my daughter. She's your sister, Elya."

"I have one of those?"

"Mhm. She's six years older than you, probably in the sixth grade by now."

"How come she's not here?"

"She's in Germany with her mom."

"Her mom? Then how is she my sister?"

"Because you both have a dad in me."

"Oh. What's she like?"

"A lot like you. She doesn't like girly things, so it's easy to get her presents."

"Does she explore like you?"

"Not yet, but she wants to. I used to take her along when I went exploring."

"Can we go exploring?"

"Haha, no Elya. I'm too old."

"But Papa, you're only thirty-five!"

"That's old for me."

"Aw, Papa."  
~

He even bandaged my knuckles after I got in fights.  
~

"Alright, what did you do this time?"

"Caloy stole Gigi's doll. He wouldn't give it back."

"What did his parents say?"

"I don't know. I ran away."

"They're probably going to come talking to me tomorrow. Let me see... what did you do to him to make these?"

"Nothing, Pa-OW!"

"Stinging means curing, Elya."

"I know, but you didn't have to pour it on like that."  
~

Then just like mom, Papa died too. Only this time they meant to kill him. He was still alive when I got home that night.  
~

"Papa, see, I kinda got in a fight again and-PAPA!"

"Take the bolo and run."

"But Papa-"

"TAKE IT! The picture too, the one on the table. Find Leo, you'll be better off with her."

"But Papa, who-"

"RUN!"  
~

I ran into the forest. It was the only place that seemed safe to me. I ran and ran until my legs coursed with battery acid and I breathed out more than what I took in. Then I ran more.

It's the only thing I'm good at, running away.

I managed to run so deep into the forest that the one who killed him didn't bother running after me. What good am I dead anyway? What's the point of killing a little kid? When I sneaked back into his house with the bolo the next day, he was cold and lifeless on the floor. And again, I didn't cry. Instead I went grabbed one of his backpacks, went through his drawers for clothes and stuffed any packaged food into the bag. I felt like a grave robber. Papa would have wanted me to do what I did; he probably wouldn't have minded, but I felt bad about it all the same. Later that day, I wedged myself under a tour bus leaving for the airport. I hung on with everything I had, but I fell off twice and nearly got run over. By the time I got to the airport, I was sporting scratches all over my face and bruises on my legs. The police saw me several times and took me in for questioning, but I always managed to get away with both the bag and the bolo. It was months before I got to hitch a ride to Manila. It was a big rucksack; if I put my feet in first and sat with the bolo between my knees I could fit in it. They weren't very gentle with the rucksack, but I still got to Manila, so it was a win.

They caught me though, after a guy who checks baggage for bombs saw me trying to get the zipper open. But the bars on jail cells are far apart, and the police are just as likely to fall asleep on the night shift. I was really thin by then, so getting out and away was easy. But every time I got away, I started to get my feet deeper into the muck. At first I showed random people your picture, but they paid no attention to me. Then I tried selling papers, but they never let me get a cut of the money. Then, I got desperate. Whenever I got hungry enough, I'd wedge Papa's rucksack and bolo into a corner at the old folks' home where no one could find it and spent the night picking pockets. I was caught a lot the first few times, but there were less of those the more I 'practiced'.

The last time I was caught was when Tiyo Marshall caught me. He was flat broke at the time, but he gave me a hundred _dollars._ Half of what he had left. He's a good guy, Tiyo Marshall. That's how I managed to get here.  
~~

It was nearly two in the morning. Caver and teenager lay next to each other in the silence. "He talked about me."

"A lot, Leo." More silence.

"You'll tell me more next time, E-li."

"You're not mad?" The caver grinned for the first time in a long time. "How could I be mad at the only family I have left?"  
~

I am so creative this summer. Usually I'd just be lazing around or eating.

The translations aren't word-for-word. They're just the closest English can come to the Tagalog meaning. Hope you guys don't mind. XD

This fic'll be over soon. Then what'll I do with my life? Huh.

Suki dayooo~


	23. That 'Oh shit' moment

He still tastes like chocolate. I guess I ought to explain why I'm kissing Natsuki Joel Alexandersson while wearing nothing but boxers and an over-sized white t-shirt under my hospital gown thingy. Oh wait, I'm wearing underwear too. Sorry.

It started this morning when Leo went off with Steve.  
~

"Bitch you can't just leave me here with him." My voice hisses like Celia's snake hair after she went bitch-mode at Mike Wazowski for ditching her at Harry Hausen's. Cavegirl just smiles. "You made me worry for a month, you owe me bitch."

"Come on Leo, you can't just ditch your sister for a date! Bros before hoes."

"I _am_ putting my bro before my hoe. Leaving you with Natsuki seems like a pretty good gameplan."

"But Leo-"

"Steve, wanna go several rounds of Time Crisis with me?" she asks Kuya. He brought me fish. I love fish. Dammit that stuff ought to be the miracle food. "That depends. Are we taking Fishbreath over there along?"

"Nope. She's staying with Natsuki. She won't be going anywhere for another week or so, remember?"

"Then I'm game." And that was it.

Fuckin' turds. Leo's my sister and Steve's practically brother to me, but I am pretty sure that I'm releasing the Kraken on their wedding day. I won't settle for doves. Oh God, was that a knock? It's probably _him._

I could have gotten stuck with Nina, at least the two of us could go Carpe Diem without one of us getting raped. Why Carpe Diem? Because it's YOLO, but with class. You wanna do something right, you gotta do it with class.

"Hey. How do you feel?" Why does he have to ask that?! I am the chicken that tried to do the walk-on-flaming-coals trick. "Alright I guess. The hospital food doesn't really add to the healing process though." God, I sound like a freak.

Oh wait.

"So..."

"What?" _Jesus, Eliana, don't sound like you're going to make him drop and give you fifty._ Well I'm sorry how am I supposed to sound then? Why am I even arguing with myself? This isn't Fight Club, I'm not Jack's raging bile duct and I don't have a Tyler Durden!

"Can you still play Salit-salit?" Oh no, again with that. Well it might not be so bad, but-

"Sure."

Oh yeah, sure, Eliana, make yourself look easy.

"After you, Eliana." I am not Jack's raging bile duct, I am Eliana's raging hormones. "Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny?"

"Officer Jenny. Her Pokemon are cooler. Erza Scarlet or Mirajane?"

"Erza. Alphabetical order. Who's worse, Orihime or Lucy?"

"Orihime. At least Lucy has a whip. All Orihime does is, 'Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!'. Byakuya or Renji?"

"Byakuya. L'Oreal hair beats eyebrows. Uh, Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee?"

"Damn. Are you trying to make it hard for me?" Yes, yes I- wait what?

"It is my nature."

"Chuck Norris. A cobra bit him and it died."

"Whatever. Still Bruce Lee. Your turn."

"Headphones or earphones?"

"Headphones. Efficient and badass. If I told you to drink from the far side of the glass, would you do it?"

"Nope. Wouldn't want to get you wet." Okay, there's something wrong with this conversation. "Besides I don't even know how to drink from the far side of the glass."

"Just bend over and drink. Easy."

"Hmph. If I do what you say and drink from the far side of the glass, what would you do?"

"That depends. If you fail in a very epic way I will laugh at you then give you a tissue."

"And if I don't fail?"

"The first rule of Salit-salit is you do not ask two consecutive questions." Natsuki laughed then got up. Is he seriously going to do it? He filled a plastic cup with some chocolate milk from the fridge. Holy crap, he's going to do it. Omigod, he's doing it! What'll I do if he gets it right?! Shit, he's nearly done! Think, Eliana think...

"THBBTTPPTTBB!"

And it's gone. "Sorry 'bout that." He wiped the last drops off his shirt and shrugged when they seeped into the cloth. Crazy ass. "Did I get you wet?" Definitely something wrong with this conversation. "Nah. You did win a very nice piece of tissue though."

"Thank you. I'd like to thank the Academy."

"Alright, wise guy, your turn."

"Date Taylor Swift to see if she'll write a song about you after you break up or wrestle with a funyarinpa?"

"Wrestle with a funyarinpa. I'd rather have Adele write a song about me anyway. Gandalf's staff or the Elder Wand?"

"Gandalf's staff. I'm better at handling long sticks." You shall not pass. I have summoned a Balrog to protect my virginity. "Alright, Luka or Gakupo?"

"Both of them forever and ever. Do you watch Black Lagoon?" You, sir, have destroyed the Balrog with one sentence. "Yeah. Why?" He pours us some chocolate milk. "You obviously know Revy." I nod. How could any Black Lagoon fan worth the Bacardi they drink at the Yellow Flag not know Revy? "You know how she nearly shot Rock?"

"'course. Again, why?"

"I was thinking how you and Revy are kinda the same."

"I don't remember being..." The word _graverobber_ springs to mind. "...so cynical."

"Besides that."

"I'm a proud swordmaster. Guns don't do it for me."

"Besides that."

"Tsundere with a vengeance?"

"Yeah. Plus the fact that you're somehow indestructible."

"Please. A lot of people are indestructible."

"You're a smart person even though you didn't really go to school."

"School couldn't handle me." Hmm. Maybe I ought to bugger him about it now. The question is, do I plan it out before asking or do I improvise? "Wanna know something?"

"Sure. What?"

"I always wondered how people would react if I told them I played otome games."

"YOU?!"

"Yeah."

"You?"

"Yes me."

"I was not expecting that. Why?"

"I get romantic every now and then. Not my fault. Still a girl. Your turn."

"If I spoke in another language would you be able to understand me?"

"I don't know, but I'm willing to try." He finishes his milk and sits next to me on the bed. Those eyes. "Ego amo te." I shrug and shake my head. No, I have no idea what that means, go on Google Translate, pick another from the list. "Je vous aime bien." I know it's French but that's all. God, I ought to get out more. "Kedvellek." Not sure if Russian or Hungarian. "Look, Natsuki, can't you-"

"You said my name." What? "You said Natsuki." It's your name, gaga, what am I supposed to call you? "You've never said my name until now."

"Well, Mister Natsuki, don't you have any other languages?" He's thinking, and it looks like something springs to mind. "Nah. It's getting old anyway. Your turn to ask."

"What do you really want to do after college?"

"College? What college?"

"College. Harvard, Yale, MIT where they have the cheer that goes, 'Cosine, secant, tangent, sine, 3.14159!'"

"God no. College is a waste of my time."

"And why?"

"Two years of general studies before actually rocking your real course. If I want to learn how to make a jet pack from Coca-cola and Mentos, I want to learn how to make it _now._ And that's what the Internet is for."

"God, you're impossible. Your turn."

"Alam mo ba na marunong ako mag-Tagalog?"  
_(Did you know that I can speak Tagalog?)_

"Hindi. Kelan ka naman natuto? At ba't parang Visaya ka kung magsalita?"  
_(No. When did you even learn? And why do you sound Visaya?)_

"Basta marunong ako, pwede na. Kaya mo ba mag-Salit-salit sa Tagalog?"  
_(As long as I know how, it'll do. Can you play Salit-salit in Tagalog?)_

"Paumanhin, ginoo, ngunit taga-Maynila ako at alam ko ang aking ginagawa. Bakit niyo naman naisipang mag-Tagalog sa oras na ito?"  
_(Excuse me, kind sir, but I am from Manila and I know what I'm doing. Why did you consider using Tagalog at such a time?)_

"May ibig sana akong sabihin sa iyo. Pagpasensyahan mo sana ang aking pamamaraan ng pananalita, dahil iniisip ko na ang itatanong ko sa iyo ay karapat-dapat lamang para sa pormal na okasyon."  
_(There is something I'd like to say to you. Please excuse my speech for I consider what I am about to ask you as something worthy of a formal occasion.)_

"Punyeta, umayos ka nga. Nakaka-nosebleed yang Tagalog mo. San ka ba natuto, Google Translate?"  
_(Dammit, just bugger off. Your Tagalog's giving me a nosebleed. Where did you learn, Google Translate?)_

"Eh pasensya na 'te, pasosyalan lang."  
_(Sorry sister, just trying to sound formal.)_

"Ano ba itatanong mo, ha?"  
_(What are you going to ask anyway?)_

"Kung sinabi ko sa yo na may gusto ako sa yo, maniniwala ka ba?"  
_(If I told you I liked you, would you believe me?)_

"Aba ewan, ginoo. Parang napakalandi ko naman kung nahulog ang loob ko sa isang lalaki na nakilala ko lang sa loob ng halos apat na buwan. Siguro kung tinuloy mo ang panliligaw mo nang apat na taon, may pag-asa ka pa."  
_(Well, I don't know, kind sir. It would make me seem like quite the flirt if I developed feelings for a man I've only known for four months. Maybe if you continued your courtship for four years you'd have a better chance.)_

What, Eliana, what.

"Ehh, akala ko wala nang pormalan."  
_(Ehh, I thought we'd stop being formal.)_

"Sori madam, trip ko lang. At tsaka ba't ako maniniwala? Bigay ka nga ng isang dahilan na hindi ko malulusutan."  
_(Sorry milady, I just felt like it. And why should I believe you? Give me one good reason that I can't slip through.)_

"May gusto ako sa yo."  
_(I like you.)_

It's been three months, dammit! What the actual fuck?! _Cut the crap, E-li, we all know you have a thing for him._ I do not. Why am I arguing with myself?! _Because it paves the way for a keener intellect. _Go to hell, alterego. _I'm scared of going someplace worse: your bedchamber._

"Gusto lang? Hindi mahal?"  
_(Just like? Not love?)_

Okay, Eliana Santos Kliesen, where the hell did that come from?

_From the inner reaches of your otome game-playing heart. _

I thought I told you to shut up?

_Girls don't just shut up._

"The moment's corny enough as it is, Eliana, don't push for a cornier one."

"When did you figure that out?" Natsuki sighs, stands up and cracks his vertebrae. Inhale. Left, crick. Right, crack. Exhale. Then he turns to look at me with those mint-green eyes of his and that impish grin.

"The first rule of Salit-sal-"

"Shut up. Game's over once someone starts getting serious." I have to know. People have shat lies like this over me my whole life. 'We'll take care of you.', 'I promise to be a good adoptive mother.', 'You don't have to pay me back.'. Bullshit. If he thinks this is still a game, well. "When-"

"The day we beat Christie and Eddy in the casino arena. I accidentally groped your tits and you didn't beat me up. It started then."

"'Fell in love from the moment we kissed, since then we've been history.' Look, smartass, I've read and sold twenty-peso love stories on the side of the road to bitchy college girls for at least half of my life. What makes you think I'd fall for something like-"

Then, oblivion.

There aren't two people in the room anymore. It isn't me and him, it's _us_. Two lowly humans who have less chromosomes than a pair of potatoes exchanging spit. Aw fuck it, I don't need my alterego to rub it in my face for me.

We kissed. And it was perfection for just a moment. Perfection never lasts. Take what you can get.

Then he pulled away. "Look, I'm sorry. You probably don't-" Shut up, Alexandersson. I can think of so many things your mouth can be used for that don't include talking. This is one of them.

Wait. I break the kiss and look down where his pelvis is parallel to my thigh. He looks too. "Right, um, about that..." My IV tube nearly rips off after I tumble him onto the teeny tiny mattress that this hospital calls a bed. Don't _ever_ expect me to bottom for _anybody. Ever. "_You can worry about it later." It's different from the last two times. For one thing, I'm not wearing the blank oh-dear-God-what-just-happened face. His hands feel so warm on my back, like those rocks at the spa that they put in groups of two on your back. Only his hands don't burn. I never cuddled with Papa, or with mom, but then if I did cuddle with them it wouldn't feel like this.

I wish his hands were somewhere else though. But nevermind, start small. He's actually got the beginnings of stubble now. It's rubbing my fingers raw. His hard-on's throbbing like mad down there. Screw it, he can deal with it later. His tongue rages against mine, trying to be the alpha male. We'll see, Natsuki, we'll see. Those hands are under the hospital gown now, two masses of heat climbing up my torso. He already got to second base before, no harm in letting him make another visit.  
~

And that's what happened. "I don't know if she's up yet, she was still asleep this-"

Nina.

With Lars.

Oh shit.

"This isn't what it looks like." I stutter. Nina looks at me like my nose grew a tail, then grins like the villain who knows he's already won. "Really."

"Really." She nods and shuts Lars' mouth. "Come on, we still need to get her medicine." They shut the door, and we can hear Lars talking. "Huh. He's just got beginner's luck." There's Nina's laugh. "Whatever floats your boat." She'll never let me live this down. I can just see her telling my future kids about how she caught their mom mouth-raping a guy in a hospital room.

Damn. Moment's gone. I roll over next to Natsuki and flip the IV to make sure it doesn't snag. He speaks first. "So."

"So what?"

"How many years did you say I had to do? Four?"

"Yeah, that's the minimum. But I'll bump it down to two. I owe you for my side."

Oh yeah. Score one for the Blademaster.  
~

Four years of courtship was actually normal during the Spanish occupation. No, it doesn't take that long anymore. It's boiled down to a year or so, sometimes even a few months. :)) back with this wad of creative garblarglablarg. Once again, the Filipino-English translations are verified by true Filipinos, not Google Translate.

Note: Visaya is an accent where v's are pronounced kinda like b's, e's morph into i's... either way it sounds kinda funny and people notice quickly if you have it. How do I know? I have it. Nobody's ever made fun of me because of it though. Must be because I'm such a bamf. *gets punched in the face by the anti-vanity army*

It's nearly overr. :okay:

Suki dayo~


	24. She's in trouble again

Nina sat the table filling out paperwork. Name, address, age, gender... all five copies. "Hey, what's that?" Elias leaned on her with one elbow. The bolowielder had been rooming with her for three weeks. Lars knew everything; he raised an eyebrow once or twice but seemed to accept it. Elias protested that she knew how to handle herself, but Nina wouldn't hear of it. So there. The ice queen sipped from the teen's glass. It had become a given that if one of them had a drink and the other didn't, the one with a drink will share.

"Papers."

"For what?"

"The stuff Lars doesn't do."

"How come you have to do it? Give it here, I'll help."

"Go back to your drinking. You didn't finish the bottle again did you?" Another thing about rooming with Elias: the girl was an alcoholic of a sort. She got tipsy, but never drunk. No matter where or how she hid the bottle, Nina couldn't stop her. Rationing was the only logical choice. "Nope. I've had enough of you zapping me." If rationing doesn't work, you could always pull out the taser gun. The teen moved to splay herself over the sofa. "Elias."

"'sup?"

"What are you going to do now?" She heard the ice in the glass clink as Elias sipped her drink. She had moved from sake to vodka. Still a drinker, but at least she drank less now. "I dunno. Maybe go back to working for Lars."

"Don't you want to go back to school or something?"

"Nah. I think I'm past the point of needing to sit in a classroom. Teachers would probably kick me out." Scribble, scribble, adjust the carbon paper. "I might find my own place."

"Not one for rooming with me?"

"It's not that."

"Then why?" Nina turned to look at her. The teen shrugged. "I'm just more used to depending on myself." The ice queen got up and sat next to the teen sprawled out on the sofa. She'd had enough of those damned papers anyway. "You're apparently wanted, by the way."

"Huh?"

"Private investigation from the Philippines has tracked you here. Something about spreading the truth about a rigged election."

"I don't give shit about my country's politics."

"Let me guess, you consider it below you? Gimme some of that."

"Ehh, I just got that!"

"You can get another." Nina downed the glass, ignoring the Elias' eagle eye stare. "Fine, fine." She got up to get a refill. "Politics isn't below me. If I had turned out normal I'd be taking law in two years."

"You'd still be stealing money." Elias' dark chuckle echoed from the kitchen. "True. At least I'd be doing it legitimately."

"Really now." The teen was about to sit back down, but thought better of it and ran back to the kitchen to fetch the vodka. "But seriously, what are you going to do?" Nina asked her. She shrugged and poured in a finger of the liquor. "Don't know. 'Elias' is the closest thing to my real name as you can get."

"How many names have you even had?"

"Ten valid ones, all over age limit. One of them's a senior citizen."

"Huh." Elias passed her the glass. "Or I could go back to Palawan to wait it out a while." Something pulled on her heart a little, but years of experience helped Nina hide it.

"Are you suggesting you actually had something to do with that rigged election?"

"Well..."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. All I did was figure out the passcode. 1234's the easiest to guess." Nina shook her head. She was probably going to get into a lot of trouble with this kid. Wait, correction, she'd already been through a lot of trouble with this kid. "What about Leo?"

"She has Steve. I don't have to bugger my head about her."

"She'll kill you once you get back, if you're leaving."

"Kill me, then revive me, then kill me again. She'll probably ask me to room with her. I can't." Sip, gulp, exhale. "Nothing wrong with rooming with your sister."

"It's funny, hearing that from you. Don't even try." Nina had a blade to her throat, she had a blade to her heart. Equivalent exchange. She huffed and poured herself another glass. The sooner one of them finished the bottle, the more likely Elias wouldn't drink for a week. It's a tough life, being a sixteen, no, seventeen-year-old alcoholic of sorts. "If she were single, I could have roomed with her. But she's not."

"Steve won't sleep at her place every night you know."

"I know."

"And if you feel forever alone you could call Natsuki." Raise blades, smirk at each other, drop blades. Typical conversation. "I may have done some bad things, but I'm an old-school Filipino. Save your virginity, blah blah blah."

"You looked pretty close to losing it last time."

"I ought to say the same for you. I heard you, you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She could feel her face turning red. "Oh, but I think you do. I'd like the details."

"Details of what?"

"Aren't assassins supposed to be good liars? I know what you two were doing last night. You can't get me drunk on Bacardi, you know." Again, blades were raised. "I won't tell. Jeez." Nina stared at her and her impish grin.

"He was better than expected. Very gentlemanly."

"That's all?!"

"I thought you wanted to keep your virginity?"

"Telling me about how he was won't take it away! Come ooon-"

"He's...uh..."

"Are you actually at a loss for words?" The assassin leaned over to whisper something to her. "Oh. Oh. Oh my God, oh."

"Don't make such a big deal about it."

"How can I not when that shade of red looks oh-so-good on you?"  
~

Sometime after she got Elias tipsy enough to go to sleep, Nina paced back to the desk to finish the paperwork. She had to call the agency since Elias had made up her mind about leaving until the investigation gave up on finding her, but she figured she ought to have at least some of the paperwork done. With a sigh, Nina picked up the receiver and punched in the number. "Hello?"

"Yeah, it's me, Ms. Falsifitrov from yesterday. I was wondering if you could give me a little more time to get back to you on those papers."

"Of course, ma'am. There's no hurry. Are you reconsidering the-"

"No. She's just going to go off on her own for a while." Nina said in a soft enough voice that wouldn't wake the teen. "Ah, all right, no problem. It's not my place to ask, but will she be alright on her own?" Mishima Zaibatsu's ice queen turned to look at the sleeper. "Yes. She can handle herself." They exchanged a few more words, then hung up. One last phone call to make.

"Hello, Philippine Airlines? yes, I'd like to book a flight..."  
~

One more. I'LL PUSH THROUGH. XD

Suki dayoo~


	25. The End (Oh really?)

"But what about Asuka and Xiao?"

"Yeah!" She shook her head at her grandkids. It was something she liked about them. They always humored her whenever she got to talking too much; always asking questions. Maybe they were really interested, maybe not, at least they loved her enough to humor her like that. "They got better over time, except for Asuka. Once she heard the Elias had left the country she broke her arm again after tripping down the stairs. She was still in the hospital at the time, she got up and tried to rush after her." The eldest one at fifteen, Julian, got up and stretched. "But, Granma, did Elias ever come back?"

"Of course."

"Where is she now? I wanna drink with her." She tossed a pillow lightly at the fourteen-year-old Kia. She was just as rebellious as her mother. "Don't even try drinking, Kia, or I'm telling Auntie."

"Chrys, don't boss your cousin around. May I remind you that you're both the same age." The grandmother got up and staggered a little. All three got up to help her. Another thing she liked about them. They spoiled her with little things like these. "It's alright, I'm just going to check on Kimmy." Kimmy was the youngest, only two. The unexpected baby. He was well-behaved in contrast to his sister Kia. Kia was fiercely protective of him. "Hey Gran, what about Tiyo Marshall?"

"Oh him. He still owns Marshall's. Get me some of his noodles when you come back, I heard he made a new dish."

"Was Paul really that much of a pervert?"

"Yes, Chrys. Do your best to tone down your perversion. Yes, I know. I won't tell your mother."

"Kia! You told her didn't you?"

"No I didn't! She found your porno herself."

"With or without your help?"

"Shh, you two'll wake the baby." Julian handed her the walker. She thanked her and reluctantly grabbed hold of it. She knew she didn't need it, but of course she'd have to keep up appearances. They heard a car pull up outside.

"There's your parents. Kia, go get Kimmy." The teen nodded and headed off to get him. "Hey mom," Julian greeted the visitor.

"Hey. How was your time with gran?"

"She told us about Elias tonight." A smile creased the blonde woman's face. "Did she? What did she say?"

"She said she hacked into a system and beat up some Bryan Fury guy."

"Really? Get into the car, then, Chrys. Hey, aren't you coming to get your kids?" Another woman got out of the car. She looked entirely different from the blonde woman, but their eyes were the same shade of blue. "Yeah, yeah, I'm here. What was that you were saying about Kia, Chrys?"

"She said she wanted to drink with the Elias chick Gran told us about." She laughed. "I think Elias wouldn't mind. You going home already?" she asked the other mother. "Yeah. I'm dumping them here again in a week."

"Jeez mom."

"Hey hey, I'm just kidding. I love you two. See you next job, sis. Bye mom." The two moms hugged, and the first one left after kissing the grandmother. "Bye Gran, teach me more about that aikido stuff next time!"

"Pass trigonometry first!" Julian grinned at her from the car. She could almost hear the two siblings bickering in the back seat. "Hey there you," the other mother greeted her daughter. "Heard you wanted to go drinking."

"Chrys told on me didn't he?"

"Yeah, but don't mind it. Boys are kinda edgy at your age. Go on, get in the car."

"Mom?" She turned back to look at her daughter. "Do you know who Elias is?"

"Yeah. She's awesome and gorgeous. I met her in Manila." Neither of them noticed how the grandmother rolled her eyes. Vanity.

"Is she really like Granma said?"

"Yes. But she got a little more mature through the years."

"Can I go drink-"

"No. To the car, sweetie. March." Kia grinned and walked off with her brother in her arms. It never failed to surprise anybody that Kia was exactly opposite of her brother. "You told her about me."

"Yes."

"You told her I drank."

"Yes." They stared at each other a while. "You're not holding a blade to my neck."

"I know. You're too old for me to hold a-" A glint of silver appeared between her eyes. "You shouldn't let your guard down so easily."

"Oh really?" The grandmother looked down to see a very sharp pencil about to press into her stomach. "You little liar."

"I'd say I learned it from you, but then we both know that's a lie." The women laughed. "Hey. Have they guessed that it's me and Sis in your stories?"

"Not yet. I have a feeling Julian and Kia might figure it out soon though." The other mother smiled. "What'll you do when they _do_ figure it out?"

"Julian's learning from Sis and you. I'm just going to teach Kia what I know."

"She better be as good as you."

"She might be even better." Silence. She had turned out better than she'd hoped. "I better go, mom."

"Go on. I know you two'll be-"

"Don't say it." She hugged her mother. "Need any help getting in bed?"

"I'm fine, thank you. We both know I'm not that old." They exchanged another smirk, and the grandmother pushed her towards the car with the walker. "Be careful."

"Bye Gran!" Kia held her baby brother up to the window. He blinked his green eyes and sleepily waved goodbye as the car rolled away. The grandmother watched them go, then went inside and closed the door.  
~

It is enough. The Defense rests.

It's over, I think. I don't know. Maybe another whirlwind will come and I'll get to write more. But for now, I think my sketchbook needs some love. Thanks for sticking around with me up until now, you guys are really wonderful. XD

I'll be back, hope for a whirlwind.

Love, *Name has been removed due to violation of copyright laws*


End file.
